This document examines liberal democracy in post-communist countries over the first 30 years of transition, based on data from the V-Dem project. It finds that while many central and eastern European countries improved their liberal democracy scores in the early transition period, some have since declined. Specifically, liberal democracy has eroded in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria since around 2010. The document analyzes how liberal democracy is undermined through restrictions on civil liberties and the concentration of power in the executive branch. It also charts economic growth and improvements in life expectancy in transitioning countries compared to the EU.

1. Liberal democracy in transition—
the first 30 years
Torbjörn Becker, Director SITE
torbjorn.becker@hhs.se
November, 2019

2. FREE Network
CEFIR
ISET
KSE
BEROC
BICEPS
CenEA
SITE

3. The first 30 years—the BIG (messy) picture
Data from V-Dem
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1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Liberal democracy index
Armenia Azerbaijan Bulgaria Belarus CzechRepublic Estonia Georgia Hungary
Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Lithuania Latvia Moldova Poland Romania Russia
Slovakia Slovenia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Uzbekistan EU10 FSU12

4. Varieties of the BIG picture
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0,6
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1989
1991
1993
1995
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V-Dem: Liberal democracy
EU10 FSU12
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6
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
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Freedom House: Political rights
EU10 FSU12
0
1
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6
1989
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Freedom House: Civil liberties
EU10 FSU12
-5
0
5
10
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015
2017
Polity IV project: Polity2
EU10 FSU12

5. The early phase of transition
Data from V-Dem
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0,00 0,10 0,20 0,30 0,40 0,50 0,60 0,70 0,80 0,90 1,00
2009
Start of transition data 1989, 1990,1991,1993
Liberal democracy changes from start of transition to 2009
Belarus
Armenia
Avg. EU 10
Avg. FSU 12

6. The later phase of transition
Data from V-Dem
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0,00 0,10 0,20 0,30 0,40 0,50 0,60 0,70 0,80 0,90 1,00
2018
2009
Liberal democracy changes 2009-2018
Ukraine
Romania
Bulgaria
Hungary
Poland
Czech rep.
Avg. EU 10
Avg. FSU 12

7. Declines in 5 of EU10
Data from V-Dem
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1989
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Liberal democracy index
Bulgaria Czech Republic Hungary Poland Romania

8. How liberal democracy is undermined
Data from V-Dem
BLR HUN POL UKR ROU CZE BGR ARM
Start of decline 1994 2010 2015 2007 2016 2008 2016 1995
Election year 1994 2010 2015 2007 2016 2008 2016 1995
Years of decline 3 9 3 8 2 10 2 2
Lib.dem. -0.32 -0.28 -0.25 -0.23 -0.18 -0.14 -0.13 -0.12
Free expr/info -0.32 -0.33 -0.26 -0.21 -0.16 -0.06 -0.11 -0.06
Free assoc. -0.23 -0.13 -0.07 -0.23 -0.10 -0.05 -0.03 -0.09
Suffrage 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Clean elect. -0.21 -0.22 0.00 -0.20 0.08 -0.04 -0.09 -0.38
Elect. Off. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Law -0.16 -0.06 -0.07 -0.29 -0.09 -0.01 -0.02 0.02
Jud.con. exec. -0.63 -0.12 -0.28 -0.12 -0.41 -0.08 -0.10 -0.01
Leg.con. exec. -0.64 -0.25 -0.12 -0.24 -0.36 -0.10 0.03 0.00

9. Growth in transition
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GDP per capita relative to EU15
EU10 Poland FSU12 Russian Federation
Data from World Bank Development indicators

10. Life in transition
55
60
65
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80
1989
1990
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2010
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2018
Life expectancy
EU10 Poland FSU12 Russia
Data from World Bank Development indicators

11. Politics in transition
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1989
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2010
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Liberal democracy index
EU10 Poland FSU12 Russia
Data from V-Dem

12. Policy briefs on transition and other issues at
freepolicybriefs.org

13. 1
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