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PARTISANREVIEW
can now certainly say that the communist states cannot and, in fact, did
not survive - at least not the countries of the former Soviet "extemal"
empire. Leninist regimes did irrevocably fall apart. But the legacy of the
Leninist system, including its cultural and moral elements, is much more
complex and stubborn than anyone had foreseen. For transitions to
successfully occur and to result in the emergence of open societies, some
factors are indispensable. First, a pluralist political space with genuine
political parties must emerge. Second, the relationship between power
and opposition must be redefined upon the understanding that the exis–
tence of a powerful and dynamic opposition is essential for the healthy
functioning of a democracy. Third, a political elite must emerge, one
that, despite all the natural divergences, can agree on the ultimate values
characteristic of an open society, including the role of the market, the
protection of the individual, and the indispensable .guarantees for
minorities.
Yet while the democratic orientation of the mainstream political
discourse seems unquestionable, we should not gloss over the persistence
of unavowed fears, phobias, and frustrations, the neurotic syndrome that
explains the readiness of many individuals to join ethnocentric, nebu–
lously prophetic movements. As we sadly know from the experience of
Weimar Germany, democracy is not immune to such movements. On the
other hand, democratic polities can defend themselves if they eliminate
self-serving illusions and identify the social and psychological motivations
of populist extremism. To deny these motivations and to limit oneself to
a rhetoric of self-glorification is hardly a way to strengthen the victories
of the last two years. As these societies have extricated themselves from
the communist morass, their alternatives have ranged from real democracy
to fundamentalist ethnocracy. In addition to the difficulties created by
economic renewal, they have inherited the political, social, and cultural
crises provoked by Communism. To avoid the exploitation of these
tensions by movements grounded in resentment and hatred, to prevent
the emergence of a combination of extreme right and left "indigenous"
radicalism, fledgling democratic institutions need to create a counterbal–
ance at the level of social psychology. Democratic politics is not founded
on myths and emotions but on the modest and patient search for those
impersonal procedures that foster what totalitarianism wanted to destroy:
the accountability of political power and the existence of an indepen–
dent judiciary and other institutions that aim to protect and not to
humiliate the individual. Building these institutions transcends the
will
of
a political party: it entails the individual in its integrity, because the roots
of liberty lie in the awareness that no government has the right to assign
to itself the power to limit this freedom.
