title: The Misuse of Referendums in Post-Communist Europe
abstract: Eastern Europe’s hope for a ‘return to Europe’ remained a distant and remote possibility during more than 40 years of communist rule, but the Yalta agreement to divide Europe was always regarded by East Europeans as artificial and ultimately transient. When communism collapsed there were high expectations of a speedy end to this artificial division. Originally, the new post-communist elites throughout Eastern Europe intended to hold referendums that would underline the historical and cultural sy