The stage of development among former communist economies: Social capital, the middle class and democracy

The aim of this paper is to trace, comparatively, the path of both development and democracy among Former Soviet Republics (FSRs) and Central Eastern European Countries (CEECs). Democracy is defined using the concept of Dahl (1971) who refers to “contestation” as the essential feature of democracy. Development is identified with the general progress of human beings (Ray, 1998), which can be better captured by the Human Development Index, and which does not include income improvements only. I assume that democratic institutions come from the middle class and social capital. In CEECs a higher level of social capital and a more consistent middle class than in FSRs generate better democratic institutions and consequently higher levels of human development. This hypothesis will be tested through a sample of 28 Former Communist Economies (FCEs) during the last 20 years of transformation since the fall of Berlin Wall in 1989.