| Description: |
This paper uses data from the New Europe Barometer to assess the legacy of communism on generational values and beliefs in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, during the first fifteen years following the collapse of communism. To facilitate comparison, we limit our focus to five periods with surveys in all countries: 1992-1993, 1995, 2001, and 2004-2005. We define the politically relevant generations in the region and compare and contrast generational trends in support for democracy and authoritarianism across the transitions. Because of the possibility that the ten regimes differ among themselves in important ways, we divide the countries into three groups based on their distinctive experiences under communism and since its collapse. After multivariate analyses assessing the dynamics of political learning over time, we conclude by considering the implications of growing up Communist for becoming democratic.
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