pluralism was finally institutionalised in the late 1980s, it existed more in form than in
content. That is to say, it had developed as a result of a decision by the countries’ elites
to try and incorporate and institutionalise the political opposition, as a way of facilitating
the pushing through of market reforms. Political pluralism was at the same time a
necessary outcome of the development of market relations in CEE states, and a quid pro
quo offered by the governments to the opposition in order to give legitimacy to market
reforms. That political pluralism was born through an elite compromise brokered
between government and the opposition was seen in the Roundtable Talks. These talks
were the antithesis of popular protest, and gave meaning to Solidarity’s concept of a
“self-limiting revolution”
viii
.
This account of early transition helps place contemporary CEE politics in their historical
context. The volatility and fragmentation routinely observed in studies of CEE party
politics reflects this development of pragmatic political parties without any clear social
constituencies. At the same time, the legacy of 1989 has seen the emergence of a
political elite in search of a program that would serve to cohere interests and political
formations. In many ways, EU membership has been adopted as this grand projet. It
follows that the absence of political debate on Europe is only partly the result of
accession itself and its tendency to present all requirements in a ‘take it or leave it’
manner. The context into which accession was introduced was one where there were no
political alternatives to marketisation, and political formations were re-positioning
themselves along pragmatic rather than ideological lines. It should come as no surprise
therefore that whilst the EU was happy that CEE executives should be strengthened in the
course of negotiations in order to be able to push through the required legislative
changes, this has made it difficult to portray enlargement as a popular process. The
campaigning for the referendums was seen as an opportunity to galvanize public opinion.
However, whilst there was no rejection of membership, the turnout in many referendums
was poor, reflecting a general public disengagement. A ‘return to Europe’, promulgated
through the conditionalities of accession, has thus served to consolidate public
disengagement from politics in CEE.
Convention