A decade after communism's collapse, what do we have toreport? For one thing, some states certainly have it easierthan others. A handful of the postcommunist states located inclose proximity to the West have made admirable progress inconstructing viable market economies and meaningful insti-tutions of democratic representation, but a much largergroup has yet to taste the fruits of what Western politicians inthe 1990s called "market democracy." Among this lattergroup, some retain at the time of this writing a formalcommitment to democracy, but others have never moved veryfar from the authoritarian cronyism where they started.