Constraints and Opportunities of Leadership in Post-Communist Europe

Taking Slovakia as a case study, this volume investigates the role of leadership and political leaders in post-communist Europe. In particular it explores the role played by the three-time Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar in determining the course of Slovak politics in the 1990s. Building on the concepts of "constraint" and "opportunity" and the strategic-relational approach, Tim Haughton advances an arena-based model of leadership. The volume will be of particular interest to advanced students of Central and East European politics and political scientists interested in issues of leadership. Contents: Introduction: Assessing the role of political leaders in a post-Communist country; The leader and his party; The leader and the coalition; The leader and the institutional framework of politics; The leader and public opinion; The leader and the wider world: the role of the international environment; Putting Meciar in comparative perspective: the role of political leaders in post-Communist Europe; Bibliography; Index.