The handbook is unrivalled in breadth and depth affording a comprehensive overview of Eastern European politics provided by leading experts in the fields of comparative politics, international relations and public administration.

Adam Fagan is Professor of European Politics and Head of the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London, UK. His previous works include Europeanization of the Western Balkans (2015) and Europe's Balkan Dilemma (2010). He is also the co-editor of the journal East European Politics.

Petr Kopecký is Professor of Political Science and Director of Central and East European Studies Center at Leiden University, the Netherlands. His research has published in, among others, the European Journal of Political Research, European Union Politics, Party Politics, Political Studies, and West European Politics. He is also the co-editor of the journal East European Politics.

Introduction [Adam Fagan and Petr Kopecký] Part I: The state of democracy 1. Democracy and democratization in post-communist Europe [Andrew Roberts] 2. Belated transitions in South Eastern Europe [Florian Bieber] 3. Explaining Ukraine [Andrew Wilson] Part II: Political institutions 4. Core executives in Central Europe [Martin Brusis] 5. Eastern Europe's semi-presidential regimes [Thomas Sedelius and Jenny Åberg] 6. Institutionalizing parliaments in Central and Eastern Europe [Josephine T. Andrews] 7. Political parties and party organisations [Allan Sikk] 8. The rule of law [Martin Mendelski] 9. Bureaucracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans [Jan-Hinrik Meyer-Sahling] 10. Federalism in Eastern Europe during and after communism [James Hughes] Part III: Elections and political participation 11. Elections and electoral participation [Sarah Birch] 12. Voters and parties in Eastern Europe [Zsolt Enyedi and Kevin Deegan Krause] 13. Social movements after communism [Ondrej Císar] 14. The study of protest politics in Eastern Europe in the search of theory [Grzegorz Ekiert and Jan Kubik] Part IV: Minorities and identity politics 15. Understanding ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe [Sherrill Stroschein] 16. The plight of Eastern Europe's Roma [Peter Vermeersch] 17. The representation of women [Frank C. Thames] 18. The struggle for LGBT rights [Conor O'Dwyer] 19. Politics at the fringes? Eastern Europe's populists, racists, and extremists [Cas Mudde] Part V: Policy issues and policy choices 20. Varieties of capitalism in Eastern Europe [Dorothee Bohle] 21. Dealing with the past: post-communist transitional justice [Vello Pettai and Eva-Clarita Pettai] 22. "The West, the East and the rest": the foreign policy orientations of Central Eastern European countries [Elsa Tulmets] 23. Combatting corruption [Tatiana Kostadinova and Maria Spirova] 24. East European exceptionalism: foreign domination in finance [Rachel A. Epstein] Part VI: International relations and actors 25. Enlargement and Europeanization in Central and Eastern Europe: accession and beyond [Antoaneta L. Dimitrova] 26. NATO Enlargement and the post-communist states [Mark Webber] 27. Russia in the region [Richard Sakwa]