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november

8,

2006

no.

1

●

The Rise of Populist Parties

in Central Europe

Big Government, Corruption, and the Threat to Liberalism

by Marian L. Tupy

Executive Summary

discontent with the political establishment is government

entral Europe has grown freer and more prosper-

C

corruption. The pervasiveness of corruption in Central

ous since the collapse of communism. Yet liberal

Europe is partly attributable to the underdevelopment of

parties, which were responsible for bringing

civil society and the concomitant paucity of effective

those advances about, are on the defensive. In the last year,

restraints on the conduct of the political class. Moreover,

liberals have suffered a number of electoral setbacks

despite the tremendous progress toward economic free-

throughout the region. Some commentators saw the poor

dom that Central European countries have made since the

performance of the liberal parties as a sign of weakening

fall of communism, the role of the state in the economy

public support for the free market, but public opinion

remains large. The private sector is burdened with too

polls in Central Europe show continued support for capi-

many regulations, and governments continue to spend

talism. Certainly, there is no widespread support for

some 44 percent of the region's gross domestic product. To

a return to economic dirigisme, which failed so spectacu-

lessen the problem of corruption, the size and the scope of

larly in the past.

the state must be reduced.

Rather, one of the most important reasons for public

Marian Tupy is a policy analyst with the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity and is the author of the Cato study "EU

Enlargement: Costs, Benefits, and Strategies for Central and Eastern European Countries."

the cato institute

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