Andrew Roberts

This project asks who rules in the new democracies of postcommunist Europe. Is it ordinary citizens or a smaller, privileged class? Are the voices of the poor listened to or ignored? To answer these questions, I will gather data on the policy preferences of different groups of citizens in two postcommunist countries – the Czech Republic and Poland. I will then determine the extent to which the preferences of these groups are translated into policy. These issues are key to determining the nature and quality of these new democracies.