"Über sieben Brücken mußt Du gehen...": lifeworlds as places of socialisation and biographical transformation work: a plea for the cooperation between quantitative and qualitative transformation research

Abstract

Engaging directly with some of the most important issues in contemporary politics, this volume deals with the role of political culture in democratic transitions, focusing in particular on democratization in Eastern and Central Europe. The central question is the relationship between institutional development and societal norms, and between the development of a superstructure of democratic proceduralism and the attitudes and responses of post-Communist republics. Surveying over ten years of experience of post-Communist change, the book draws upon a rich range of sources using quantitative survey data in a sophisticated and enlightening way. The rigorous methodology employed provides important insights into real processes in specific countries and allows for a number of generalizations to be made about the role of political culture today.