The first puzzle this work addresses is to what extent the Eastern European democracies,
after ten years of transition manage to have functioning democracies as the Western
European ones?
The second puzzle that this book addresses is how, despite the volatility, low turnout,
instability, extremism manifested through political parties all indicators of inchoate
consolidation managed to create functioning democracies?
The functioning of democracy is assessed through one of the most important tenets of
a democratic system the citizens being able to have their preferences r[...]
