Post-Communist Democratisation in Lithuania

Post-Communist Democratisation in Lithuania: Elites, Parties, and Youth Political Organisations. 1988 – 2001explains post-communist changes in Lithuania. The transformation of political party system, political elites and youth political organisations in Lithuania are examined in light of democratisation in other post-communist countries. By linking theories of democratisation and elites to actual events, the book provides an analytical framework for interpreting political regime change and development in Lithuania. The book is based on five assumptions: (1) democratisation in Lithuania belongs to a ‘Western type’ of democratic development; (2) elites and nationalism were the major forces in modernisation; (3) Lithuanian elites have used the favourable conditions of perestroika and were the major actors in regime transformation; (4) the crop of political elites in Lithuania undergoes a generational change, and youth political organisations are very important in this process as they serve as schools for future politicians; and (5) class theory is less useful than elite theory when analysing the process of democratisation in Lithuania.

Dr Diana Janušauskienė is an associate professor at the Department of Political Science, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania. Her previous publications include ‘The Metamorphosis of the Communist Party of Lithuania’ in Bozóki, A. and Ishiyama, J.T. (ed.) Communist Successor Parties in Central and Eastern Europe. New York: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. (2002); Political Transformation and Changing Identities in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington, D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, ed. by Blasko, A. and Janušauskienė, D. (2008).