| Description: |
The concept of political patience has been largely ignored by political scientists in analyzing how subjects respond to authoritarian regimes--and what comes afterwards. The paper's first object is to show the theoretical importance of political patience, compliance and even suffering while hoping for change in the future, and to distinguish it from fatalistic resignation, acceptance of authoritarianism, or impatience leading to anomic protest. Secondly, we present empirical evidence of the extent of political patience and impatience in eight post-Communist countries, Bulgaria, the Czech republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Belarus and Ukraine, analyzing data from the third annual New Democracies Barometer survey. Because the extent of patience varies within societies, the third section tests alternative explanations--social, economic, political, contextual and cultural--about why some people show political patience with the new regimes, while others are ready to canvass alternatives sooner rather than later. The conclusion shows the empirical consequences of patience for future regime support--and of impatience in encouraging support for a switch to an alternative authoritarian regime.
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