Central Europe's Post-Accession Blues
Recent Trends in Freedom House's "Nations in Transit" Survey
Nations in Transit methodology:

qualitative country surveys, with uniform scoring to allow comparison

assessment of seven key areas: 

national democratic governance,local democratic governance,electoral process,judicial framework,independent media,civil society,and corruption

numerical ratings for all seven areas; scale of 1-7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of democratic progress

"Democracy Score": a straight average of the scores for each category

Nations in Transit Quick-Check:


first published in 1995

comparative survey of democratization focusing on the countries (29 as of the 2009 survey) of the former "communist block

"transition paradigm" implicitly at the center of its methodology

Democracy Score Trends
Regime Type by Democracy Score Range

1 - 2.99 Consolidated Democracy

2 - 3.99 Semi-Consolidated Democracy

4 - 4.99 Transitional Government or Hybrid-Regime

5 - 5.99 Semi-Consolidated Autocracy

6 - 7 Consolodated Autocracy


Areas of Concern

Rot at the Heart of Democracy


Lack of Trust

"Norm-Confusion"

Sense of Injustice

Paternalism



copyright: TÁRKI
www.tarki.hu
LACK OF TRUST
low levels of trust and tolerance
limited capacity for cooperation, low levels of societal participation 
low-level of trust in and utilization of democratic institutions
less value attached to civil rights and political liberties
stunningly low levels of trust in politicians, enterpreneurs, and journalists
"NORM CONFUSION"
2/3 of Hungarians think they themselves are decent and honest, but others are not
generally tolerant towards norm-breaking behavior
self-reported level of corruption is lower than what is assumed of others (i.e. weak ability to self-assess)

SENSE OF INJUSTICE
income inequality perception is much higher than real data would suggest
high prevalence of "zero-sum" thinking in the economic and political context
PATERNALISM
preference for strong state involvement
cognitive dissonance: low trust in the state vs expectations that it should provide and protect on an excessive scale