Elites in transition – a specific approach on methodology

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the former communist elite had transformed itself in the new capitalist elite in post-communist countries. A lot of papers described how the former communist managers became the leaders of new market economy, e.g. Soulsby & Clark (1996), Kryshtanovskaya & White (1996), Higley et al. (1996) or Lee (2009). As Higley et al. (1996) noticed “the elites who operated the communist regimes largely survived those regimes’ collapse. Their survival was greater in the economic and administrative than in the political realm, and it was more pronounced among ‘deputies’ than among top leaders.” The Romanian experience is also significant. But less known is the process of developing the power and influence during the communist regime. So the main research question of the paper is focused on the appropriate methodology to investigate how the communist elite (or a part of it) were selected during the decades of communism.