Introduction

Abstract

In view of the economic and political crises which are now affecting many parts of the world there has been renewed interest in the question of how major countries and regions previously faced such challenges, in order to learn as much as possible from these experiences. The end of the Cold War and the wave of democratization it entailed in many East European and Third World countries has, in the absence of overriding superpower rivalry and influence, also directed attention to the internal factors which have shaped these developments (see, for example, Hadenius 1992; Held 1993; Huntington 1991; Vanhanen 1990). So an analysis of the social and political reactions to the Great Depression during the interwar period in Europe may not only reveal some insights which are pertinent to crisis theory (Almond et al. 1973, Dobry 1986) and an empirical theory of democracy in general (see in particular Dahl 1989), but may also be relevant for contemporary political concerns.