Shaping Change: Strategies of Transformation

The images of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and of the Silent Revolution in Eastern Europe have become symbols of political transformation. Over the end of the 20th century, attempts were also made in other regions of the world to transform authoritarian regimes and planned economies into market-based democracies. Managing this change is one of the greatest political challenges of our time. The experiences since 1980, however, constitute a vast body of knowledge for leaders who will confront similar challenges in the future. This text presents criteria for the evaluation of the transformation processes toward democracy and a market economy, with comparative country surveys of Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, South Korea, Taiwan and Uruguay. The authors also provide criteria for evaluating development processes such as overcoming structural underdevelopment, strengthening the rule of law and creating a civil society, with related surveys of Bolivia, Mali and Mauritius.