2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The events of 1989 are widely seen as having ushered in new all-encompassing reforms in almost all areas of life. In few other places were reforms more contested and divisive than in Romania, a country that suffered greatly under the sultanistic-cum-totalitarian dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, faced the region's only bloody anti-communist revolt, and as such had the longest to travel on the road from communism to democracy. We now have a generation's worth of experience with these wrenching reforms...

This volume gathers from the remarkable 1989-2014 period, which spans the tumult of the revolution to the consolidation of new regimes, key lessons for post-communist democratic theory and practice. Written in an accessible style but based on rigorous research, this volume will be of interest for both academic and larger audiences.