Structures of Representation

Abstract

It is conventional wisdom that the East European revolution was won on the streets of Prague and Leipzig, Timisoara and Bucharest, in the shipyards of Gdansk and steel mills of Cracow. This point of view hardly can be disputed, but it is also true that this revolution was won in voting booths across the region. Street demonstrations and strikes usually initiated the change and often delivered the ultimate blow to the old regimes, but with almost no exception competitive elections were the real turning point in the process of political transition.