How have post-communist regimes been studied? How has comparative regime theory developed through the phases of transitology and hybridology, and how can it develop further? In what ways do post-communist regimes different from Western ones at their very fundaments, and what does this mean for future research? Are concepts like “illiberal democracy,” “neo-feudalism” or “crony capitalism” applicable to countries like Ukraine and Russia? In this lecture, we analyze the three fundamental axioms that need to be dissolved to analyze post-communist regimes, and present the basic structure of political institutions – the state, political competition, and the ruling elite – in patronal regimes.
Mandatory reading:
Magyar, Bálint, and Bálint Madlovics. A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes. Budapest–Vienna–New York: CEU Press, 2022. pp. 1-39.

To understand post-communist economies, a new descriptive language is needed that is different from the language that is used to described Western-type market economies. In this presentation, we will contrast the market economy and the relational economy; entrepreneurs and oligarchs (and front men); hostile takeover and “reiderstvo”; market bubbles and “relational bubbles”; and the various types of corruption that can be observed in Western and post-communist regimes. In the end, we discuss the difference between “crony capitalism” and the kind of system that can be described as “mafia capitalism,” where the economy functions on the basis of neither (private) entrepreneurial considerations nor (public) state incentives but the interests and dynamics of a single-pyramid patronal network that controls and uses the instruments of public authority in a targeted, discretional manner.
Magyar, Bálint, and Bálint Madlovics. A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes. Budapest–Vienna–New York: CEU Press, 2022. pp. 112-30.

This lecture will focus on the use of ideology in post-communist regimes, starting with a concept that lacks a clear, structured definition in the literature: populism. We will discuss populism and its five structural elements: (1) an ideological instrument for (2) the political program of (3) morally unconstrained (4) collective (5) egoism, where the first two elements refer to the supply side of the phenomenon, while the last three, to the demand side. The organizing principle on which the different aspects of populism can be ordered is legitimacy: populism is, first and foremost, a legitimacy challenge. This is (1) a feature of many of the current political actors considered populist in the literature, but also (2) a distinguishing feature that can be a clear delimitation point for what populism is and is not, and (3) many other features that are listed in the mosaic-like definitions, such as anti-elitism or anti-pluralism, can be tied to it in a coherent order. The lecture will explore populism as a legitimacy challenge, and it explains the meaning of the other elements of the definition as well.
Mandatory reading:Magyar, Bálint, and Bálint Madlovics. A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes. Budapest–Vienna–New York: CEU Press, 2022. pp. 151-62.

The conceptual framework defines six regimes: liberal and patronal democracy, conservative and patronal autocracy, and communist and market-exploiting dictatorship. Which post-communist country is close to which regime type, and how have they moved from one type to another? Spanning a triangular conceptual space, we can model post-communist regime trajectories, including primary trajectories—leaving communist dictatorship for different target regimes—and secondary trajectories—such as democratic backsliding. Twelve post-communist countries and an interactive 3D model will be used to illustrate the variety of trajectories.
Mandatory reading:Magyar, Bálint, and Bálint Madlovics. A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes. Budapest–Vienna–New York: CEU Press, 2022. pp. 185-92, 217-30.

In the framework of The Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes, Ukraine can be described as a patronal democracy. In its development in the last three decades, we could observe, instead of regime trajectories, so-called “regime cycles”: autocratic attempts have been followed by “color revolutions,” which brought re-democratization but without anti-patronal transformation. This meant that, while international observers hoped these revolts would lead to genuine democratization, none of them resulted in liberal democracy but the return of the “normal” functioning of patronal democracy. In this lecture, we will analyze the meaning of regime cycles in terms of the political-economic system and its actors, followed by an analysis of Zelensky’s anti-patronal attempt, the current situation, and the prospects of anti-patronal transformation in Ukraine after the war.
Madlovics, Bálint, and Bálint Magyar. 2023 „Ukrainian Regime Cycles and the Russian Invasion,” CEU DI Working Paper series, 47-69.