THE ROLE OF DECENTRALIZATION AND CULTURAL REVIVAL IN POSTCOMMUNIST TRANSFORMATIONS - THE CASE OF CIESZYN SILESIA, POLAND

During the first four years of post-communist transformations (1989-19 92), despite intense opposition, the basic features of the Balcerowicz economic plan remained unchanged. One main reason the plan's opponent s failed to defeat it was the decoupling of central and local politica l fields, which shielded local communes from the volatility of central politics where the criticisms of the government's economic policies w ere most eloquently articulated. Left partially to their own devices, some communes fared better under new conditions than others. The reaso ns for this differential economic revival are to be found in the diffe rences of: (1) political cultures (''revolutionaries'' versus ''reform ists'') revealed in voting patterns; (2) historical and cultural tradi tions, and (3) ''civicness.'' The empirical material to test these the ses comes from the author's own fieldwork in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland.