John Higley holds the Jack S. Blanton Chair in Australian Studies and directs the Edward A. Clark Center for Australian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His books include Elites in Australia (1979), Elitism (1980), Elites, Crises and the Origins of Regimes (1998), and Elites after State Socialism (2000).
In recent years several Westminster-style parliamentary democracies have considered cutting their ties with the British monarchy and becoming republics. The difficulties involved in trying to make such a shift were on full display in Australia.
Is the challenge of building and consolidating democracy under postcommunist conditions unique, or can one apply lessons learned from other new democracies? The essays collected in this volume explore these questions, while tracing how the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have fared in the decade following the fall of communism.
