Bulgaria has a parliamentary democracy that is trying to get on its feet, along with an economy that is challenged by

ne of the most remarkable—and least

celebrated and understood—political stories

of the postcommunist region is the relative

success of democratization in Bulgaria. Not only has

democratization taken place but democracy has taken

hold. Bulgaria has avoided the slide toward

authoritarianism that occurred in Russia, Ukraine,

Belarus, Albania, Armenia, and all the countries of

Central Asia in the second half of the 1990s.

Explaining Bulgaria’s experience is difficult. Most of

the usual explanations for success do not work.

Bulgaria does not have a hardy democratic tradition.

The brand of Sovietism practiced in Bulgaria was

similar to that found in the USSR. Dissent was dealt

with harshly. In contrast with Hungary or Poland, no

substantial political or economic liberalization

occurred during the 1970s or 1980s. At the onset of

the regime change, Bulgaria was poor even by regional

standards, and the economic trauma it endured during

the early years of transition was as severe as that

experienced by Russia and Ukraine. Neighborhood

effects cannot be considered particularly auspicious.

Bulgaria shares a long border with Serbia, and Sofia is

located close to that border. To its south, Bulgaria is

bounded by Greece and Turkey; it is the only country

to share a border with both. Bulgaria does not border

a West or Central European country. Nor does it have

an ethnically homogeneous population. It has a large

Turkish minority, geographically concentrated in the

south, as well as substantial populations of Roma and

Pomaks. The precommunist history of relations

between Bulgarians and Turks was bloodier than that

between Serbs and the people now called Bosnian

Muslims, and relations between the two groups in

Bulgaria were much worse during the Soviet era than

those between the two groups in Yugoslavia. In short,

Bulgaria did not enter the postcommunist era as a

leading candidate for robust democratization. Yet

democracy came nonetheless, and it appears to be

holding, perhaps even deepening.

After the beginning of the regime change

at the end of the 1980s, Bulgaria did develop one

noteworthy asset: an array of reasonably strong polit-

ical parties. Like Romania and Mongolia, arguably

the postcommunist region’s two other pleasant

surprises in the realm of democratization, Bulgaria

has had a relatively high rate of popular participation

in parties. Seven percent of voting-age Bulgarians, 12

percent of Romanians, and 20 percent of Mongolians

belong to parties. The numbers are all high by post-

communist standards and are far greater than in

Russia and Ukraine, where rates of party member-

ship are one or two percent (Marc Howard,

Demobilized Societies: Understanding the Weakness of

Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe [Ph.D. disserta-

tion, University of California, Berkeley, 1999]; M.

Steven Fish, “Mongolia: Democracy without

Prerequisites,” Journal of Democracy 9, no. 3 [July

1998]). In Bulgaria, as in Romania and Mongolia,

the communist-successor party or parties account for

a substantial proportion of overall party membership,

but major liberal or otherwise noncommunist-

successor parties emerged as well. It is difficult to

locate anything other than political parties to account

for the Bulgarian (or for that matter, Romanian and

Mongolian) advantage in democratization.

In Bulgaria, the most impressive party to emerge

since the dawn of open politics is the Union of

Democratic Forces (UDF). It is not only the strongest

party in Bulgaria; it is arguably the mightiest right-

center party in postcommunist Europe. Only Vaclav

Klaus’s Civic Democratic Party even compares to the

UDF in terms of membership magnitude, organiza-

tional coherence, and depth of rootedness in society.

Where the UDF came from

The UDF started life as a mélange of over a dozen

diminutive groups that coalesced loosely during the

early phase of the regime change. It lost the first parlia-

mentary elections to the Bulgarian Socialist Party

(BSP), the main communist-successor party. It fared

better in the 1991 elections and from November 1991

until September 1992 enjoyed a brief stint as the

leading party in government. It also did well in races

for local offices, especially in urban areas.

As developing nations industrialize and make use of capital resources, new challenges to the supply of the world's natural resources will no doubt appear because-

A. the newly developed countries will industry overtake the existing developed countries
B. the rate of depletion will increase as developing countries begin to use more natural resources
C. more developed countries do not want developing countries to become more economically independent
D. the developing countries will learn to bargain with their natural resources impact the economies of other nations​

Which conversion requires division? Use the metric table to help answer the question.

Metric Table
kilo-
hecto-
deka-
unit
deci-
centi-
milli-
1,000
100
10
1
0.1
0.01
0.001
kilograms to centigrams
decimeters to millimeters
hectometers to decimeters
decigrams to dekagrams

The highest natural increase rates are found in countries in which stage of the demographic transition?

Political boundaries within Canada can be best describe as

A. Provinces
B. States
C. Satellite cities
D. Dominions

The von thunen and burgess models of land use both assume that .

Why is food processing important in the Middle Atlantic states?

crops
transportation
population
distances

I’ll GIVE BRAINLIEST, PLEASE ANSWER THIS
The current average world population increase is estimated at 81 million people per year.

Select one:
a. False
b. True

a
Why is it important to know which sides of the right triangle are represented by the axes of symmetry?
It is not important.
c. You need to know in order to know where and
how to place the image on the right triangle to
be reflected properly on the snowflake.
b. You need to know how the reflection works,
but you don't need to worry about which
side.

Help plsssssssssssssssssss

The three basic economic questions ask what goods and serviced will be produced, how yhey will be produced, and

From what reference line on earth is latitude measured?

After a river erodes a valley through several layers of rock, the layers will be the same on each side of the valley, according to which principle?Immersive Reader
(20 Points)
A. superposition
B. original horizontality
C. lateral continuity
D. cross-cutting relationships

Explain the function of the thick bark found on deciduous trees.

Word Bank

WORD BANK: apart continent earthquake fossil Mesosaurus
ocean outer layer plate plate boundary movement



What is the land like where Mesosaurus fossils are found?

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Geographically, what might account for the lower GDP per capita in Mali and Niger?
A)
They are subject to constant earthquakes.
B)
Both are influenced greatly by the desert.
C
Neither has any rivers within their borders.
D)
Their landscape is dominated by mountain ranges.

Which one?
A. B. C. or D? ​

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Which of the following is most likely to occur at a divergent boundary? (3 points)
Mountain formation
Seafloor spreading
Faults
Subduction zones

How did the location of the missions and settlements contribute to the growth of the Tejano culture?

which statement explains one reason why unconformities occur?

A. rocks along a fault break and move
B. igneous rocks forms at earth's surface
C. no sediment is deposited over a long time
D. igneous rocks forms between sedimentary layers
​ PLEASE HELP!!!

Which are two cities of Pennsylvania?

Trenton
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Dover

Lava flows that are generally very hot and very fluid, generally results in the information of which type of volcano?

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Which of the following statements best characterizes opportunities for women in India?
A. Women are not allowed to vote or hold public office.
B. Women must wear Muslim dress when they appear in public.
C. Women are not allowed to go to school or to work outside the home.
D. Women have fewer opportunities for education and employment than men.
Please select the best answer from the choices provided.
ΟΑ
ОВ

Why could georgia be considered as a two time state

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Can someone describe what the punchline of this joke means. ​

what does Homo erectus mean

Photosynthesis removes ________ from the atmosphere and uses it to make organic compounds such as sugars.

Please help

Answers


A) carbon monoxide


B)

nitrogen


C)

hydrogen


D)

carbon dioxide