Eastern Europe in revolution

Brief Reviews what they fail to mention. Moreover, the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 declares that Executive branch ofhcials can be investigated by special prosecutors, one-mission attorneys susceptible to one-mission zeal. The Act exempts Congress from such treatment. Until the same legal and ethical standards apply to oficials of all branches of government, and consistently so, congressional finger-pointing at the Executive will appear hypocritical and self-serving. Lastly, if Congress is so serious about getting its witnesses to provide the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, why do so many congressional committees routinely fail to swear in wimesses? The testimony that got Abrarns in trouble was unsworn, but it would seem simple courtesy to alert a witness to his obligations by having him take an oath.

EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE AND RUSSIA by Vladimir Tismaneanu Eastern Europe in RevohHion. Edited by Ivo Banac. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1992. 255 pp. $12.95 . Despite the frenzy of events in East-Central Europe, these essays from a conference held in 1990 still read well, owing to the quality of the papers. Banac’s discussion of the role of communism and Yugoslavism in the collapse of Yugloslavia is excellent. Ken Jowitt’s chapter on the Leninist legacy connects the new political and symbolic constructs of post-communist regimes to the authoritarian behavior, conformity, and collectivistic ethos of Leninism, showing that the Leninist mindset continues to influence political behavior even after the demise of communist regimes. Gail Kligman and Katherine Verdery deserve special mention for their chapter on Romania. Writing in 1990, these authors challenged the conventional description of Ion Riescu’s regime as “neo-communist,” portraying it instead as the beginning (first stage) of a complex democratizing process, This insight allowed them to predict correctly that in Romania “the situation is generally chaotic, fraught with contradictions, and will in all likelihood worsen before improving.” One wonders, however, what makes Romania different from the other post-Communist countries. Banac and his contributors wisely tried to interpret rather than describe, and so most of their chapters have outlived the immediacy of current politics. Europe and the Soviet Union. TheReemergenceofCivilSacietyinEastem Edited by Zbigniew Rau. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1992. 183 pp. $39.95. Though the title is overly ambitious, Rau’s collection makes a number of valuable contributions to an understanding of the role of civil society in the revolutionary transformations in Central and Eastern Europe. The editor’s introduction and own chapter provide convincing conceptual discussions of these processes. Rau’s co-authored chapter with And& Heltai offers valuable insights into the relationship between nationalism and civil society. Finally, John Spring 1993 I 309