The Collapse of State Socialism : : The Case of Poland / / Bartolomiej Kaminski.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton Legacy Lib. eBook Package 1980-1999
• VerfasserIn: Kaminski, Bartolomiej,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2014]; ©1991
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Legacy Library ; 1187
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (280 p.)

Does the abrupt collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe arise only from errors in implementing the policy of state socialism, leaving the concept itself still a potentially valid one? Bartlomiej Kaminski argues to the contrary: state socialism is a fundamentally defective idea that was well carried out, enabling it to exist until its accumulated shortcomings made its survival extremely difficult. How did the flawed state-socialist system endure for so long? Why is it failing now? In answering these questions, Kaminski, who is both an economist and a political analyst, proposes a general theory and then applies it to the case of Poland. Contending that the breakdown of state socialism results from symbiosis of the state and the economy, the book describes how communist governments searched for tools that would replace the market mechanism and the rule of law. Doomed in advance by the absence of autonomy and competition, this search generated new crises by undermining the state's capacity to suppress individual interests and to direct the economy.Originally published in 1991.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables -- Preface -- INTRODUCTION -- CHAPTER ONE. The Institutional Sources of Crisis-Generating Tendencies -- CHAPTER TWO. The Limited "Reformability" of State Socialism -- CHAPTER THREE. The Logic of a Closed System: The Vicious Cycle of Decline -- CHAPTER FOUR. Crisis Management: The Trap of Negative Legitimation -- CHAPTER FIVE. Determinants of Normalization: Why Has It Failed to "Normalize" State Socialism in Poland? -- CHAPTER SIX. The Institutional Decomposition of State Socialism: The Syndrome of Withdrawal -- CHAPTER SEVEN. Beyond State Socialism -- APPENDIX A. Stages of the "Post-Martial Law" Normalization: A Bird's Eye View of Major Political Developments -- APPENDIX Β. The Debt Trap -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography -- Index