In examining post-communist countries, it becomes apparent that civil society is durable in certain countries and fragile in others. One then asks: What factors contribute to this condition? Many of the theorists in the post-communist literature argue that socioeconomic factors and the communist legacy have weakened post-communist civil society. The article explores the following question: Has corruption replaced the legacy of communism as a factor undermining trust in others and government? The theory proposed in this article implies a break from previous studies on the weakness of post-communist civil society, arguing that corruption has been a major factor in undermining civil society in the region. The article presents a rigorous examination of the association between corruption and post-communist civil society by focusing on the impact of political corruption on trust and, hence, post-communist civil society.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.