Democracy, Networks of Power and Trust in Eastern Europe: Considerations around the Syndrome of Political Personalism

The transformation process in Eastern Europe and the way that democracy in the new democracies in East-Central Europe works has given, and still gives, interesting opportunities to reconsider some basic distinctions related to the classical relationship between state and society. For rule-of-law-based democracies, the distinction between state and society is basically a question about how individual freedoms can be protected constitutionally against state intrusion. From the perspective of the constitution, both spheres have to be considered as separate. This is the political theory of the rule-of-law-orientated state issuing instructions on how to observe the social environment of the political system, and restricting its actions by constitutional means. It accepts the principle of legality of all state actions and does not interfere in private matters by respecting freedoms, particularly that of owning private property; in fact, more than any other device, private property is a restrictive factor delimiting state authority and drawing a line between the public and the private sectors. It is precisely this separation that provides meaning to the rule-of-law-based state. Of course, politically and sociologically, it does not make sense to speak of a separation between the state and society, or between the private and the public. On the contrary — interdependencies are the rule. Private and public overlap and condition each other.