Preying on the State , livre ebook

237

pages

English

Ebooks

2013

Écrit par
I. Ganev Venelin

Publié par
Cornell University Press

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237

pages

English

Ebooks

2013

Lire un extrait

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne En savoir plus

Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

15 août 2013

Nombre de lectures

EAN13

9780801469978

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

2 Mo

Immediately after 1989, newly emerging polities in Eastern Europe had to contend with an overbearing and dominant legacy: the Soviet model of the state. At that time, the strength of the state looked like a massive obstacle to change; less than a decade later, the state's dominant characteristic was no longer its overweening powerfulness, but rather its utter decrepitude. Consequently, the role of the central state in managing economies, providing social services, and maintaining infrastructure came into question. Focusing on his native Bulgaria, Venelin I. Ganev explores in fine-grained detail the weakening of the central state in post-Soviet Eastern Europe.Ganev starts with the structural characteristics of the Soviet satellites, and in particular the forms of elite agency favored in the socialist party-state. As state socialism collapsed, Ganev demonstrates, its institutional legacy presented functionaries who had become accustomed to power with a matrix of opportunities and constraints. In order to maximize their advantage under such conditions, these elites did not need a robust state apparatus-in fact, all of the incentives under postsocialism pushed them to subvert the infrastructure of governance.Throughout Preying on the State, Ganev argues that the causes of state malfunctioning go much deeper than the policy preferences of "free marketeers" who deliberately dismantled the state. He systematically analyzes the multiple dimensions, implications, and significance of the institutional and social processes that transformed the organizational basis of effective governance.

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Publié par

Cornell University Press

Date de parution

15 août 2013

Nombre de lectures

EAN13

9780801469978

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

2 Mo

Preying on the State

PREYING ON THE STATE The Transformation of Bulgaria after 1989

Venelin I. Ganev

Cornell University Press

Ithaca and London

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2007 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2013

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Ganev, Venelin I. Preying on the state : the transformation of Bulgaria after 1989 / Venelin I. Ganev p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9780801445644 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 9780801479021 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Postcommunism—Bulgaria. 2. Bulgaria—Politics and government— 1990– I. Title. DR93.44.G365 2007 949.903'2—dc22 2006101256

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood ﬁbers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing Paperback printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Tomymother,MariaGeorgievaGaneva,Andtothememoryofmyfather,Iordan Venelinov Ganev, 1926–2004

Contents

Acknowledgmentsix

1The Dysfunctionality of PostCommunist State Structures1 2The Separation of Party and State as a Logistical Problem33 3Conversions of Power62 4Winners as State Breakers in PostCommunism95 5WeakState Constitutionalism123 6The Shrewdness of the Tamed151

7PostCommunism as an Episode of State Transformation175

Bibliography199 Index215

Acknowledgments

Tat the Universityhi cience s project began at the Department of Political S of Chicago in 1997. The writing was not easy, and might not have been completed without the support of the teachers and colleagues who helped me persevere in the icy waters of academia and repeatedly expressed their belief that what appeared to many to be a decidedly unorthodox case and line of inquiry were worth exploring. Inspiring conversations with David D. Laitin and Lloyd Rudolph helped me carry on. I could also rely on a cohesive peersupport group: Julie Alig, Mark Blitz, Elise Giulianno, Gretchen Helmke, Dante Scala, Lynn Tesser, Pete Wolfe, and Jakub Zielinski. I thank them all—it is too bad, indeed, that this group scattered to the four winds. I conducted important research at the now defunct Center for the Study of Constitutionalism in Eastern Europe at the University of Chicago Law School. I thank my colleagues there—Ania Budzjak, Nida Gelazis, and particularly Dwight Semler—for their assistance and advice. I am particularly grateful to my best friends on campus, John Kenny and Fonna FormanBarzilai, who always found the right words to en courage a writer prone to despair. I will always treasure the memory of our conversations, confessions, and debates. MybiggestintellectualdebtistoStephenHolmes.ItwasStevewhogently but persistently pushed me to consider seriously the problem of postCommunist stateness; it was Steve who provided guidance and provocation every time I needed it. Having him as a teacher and as a friend has been a blessing for which I am truly grateful.

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