While socioeconomic crisis — like in Germany after World War I and in Russia after the Cold War — is a necessary precondition for democratic erosion resulting in a breakdown of democracy, it is not a sufficient condition. We identify, in the cases of Weimar Germany and post-Soviet Russia, a post-imperial syndrome that includes nationalist irredentism and an ambition to return to the status quo ante of a “great power” as a main reason why democratization faces specific and enormous challenges for former “great powers.” A slide back to authoritarianism in post-imperial democracies takes a high toll. It is facilitated by international political conflicts, including annexation and wars, with new neighbouring states that harbor territories perceived as external national homelands like the Sudetenland or Crimea.
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June 2019
Research Article|
June 03 2019
How post-imperial democracies die: A comparison of Weimar Germany and post-Soviet Russia
Steffen Kailitz
;
Steffen Kailitz
*
a Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies, Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany
* Corresponding author. E-mail address:kailitz@hait.tu-dresden.de (S. Kailitz).
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Andreas Umland
Andreas Umland
b Center for European Security, Institute of International Relations, Prague, Czech Republic
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* Corresponding author. E-mail address:kailitz@hait.tu-dresden.de (S. Kailitz).
Communist and Post-Communist Studies (2019) 52 (2): 105–115.
Citation
Steffen Kailitz, Andreas Umland; How post-imperial democracies die: A comparison of Weimar Germany and post-Soviet Russia. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 1 June 2019; 52 (2): 105–115. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2019.05.003
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