Communist nostalgia and the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

In recent years, public opinion surveys have testified to increasing levels of ‘communist nostalgia’ in Central and Eastern Europe: that is, growing numbers of citizens who feel that ‘a return to communist rule’ would in fact be a preferable option. These apparently non-democratic sentiments have been subject to two alternative explanations – one related to political socialization and the other to system output. In fact, communist nostalgia is a multidimensional phenomenon, encompassing both generational differences and general discontent. However, it is clear that nostalgia is more closely related to dissatisfaction with the present system's ability to produce output than to genuine non-democratic values.