the late eighties was remarkable for both its rapidity and its scope.

The specifics of communism's demise varied among nations, but

similarities in both the causes and the effects of these revolutions

were quite similar. As well, all of the nations involved shared the

common goals of implementing democratic systems of government and

moving to market economies. In each of these nations, the communist

regimes in power were forced to transfer that power to radically

different institutions than they were accustomed to. Democracy had

been spreading throughout the world for the preceding two decades, but

with a very important difference. While previous political

transitions had seen similar circumstances, the actual events in

question had generally occurred individually. In Europe, on the other

hand, the shift from communism was taking place in a different context

altogether. The peoples involved were not looking to affect a narrow

set of policy reforms; indeed, what was at stake was a hyper-radical

shift from the long-held communist ideology to a western blueprint

for governmental and economic policy development. The

must be developed simply to transfer such large amounts of property to

concept of the constitutional state (48). "Measured in terms of

"German Unification: Political and Constitutional Aspects." United

Seemingly, it sanctions revolution, and, "as proved to be the case in

conducive to the emergence of pluralistic policies" (19). It seemed

to the German nation state, the relationship between the nation and

state; it was not designed to address the lack of national identity

Germany and the New Europe. Heinz D. Kurz, ed. Brookfield: Elgar,

would be contingent upon, respectively. Put simply, the net effect of

would survive. It was impossible to draw the conclusion that both

experience will turn out. As Preuss writes, "The transition from an

effective democratic society. There seemed to be, at first, a tension

favor in North America, it was founded on the principle of the unitary

constitution. But what is clear is the unsatisfactory ability of a

be imminent as a result of unification, many problems also arose

Some common words found in the essay are:
Central Europe, According Preuss, Basic Law, East Germans, West Germany, Central European, West Germany's, East Germany, Basic Law's, Democratic Republic, basic law, helga welsh, german unification, east germans, processes outcomes donald, eds boulder, donald hancock, outcomes donald, hancock helga, unification germany, westview 1994, hancock helga welsh, outcomes donald hancock, donald hancock helga, helga welsh eds,
Approximate Word count = 1833
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)