ABSTRACT. Winiecki looks at the issue of the relative weights of the privatized sector and the generic private sector (of de novo private firms) in the emerging private sector of post-communist economies in transition. Kolodko notes that the fundamental economic argument in favor of postsocialist transition to a market system has been a supposition that it will improve allocative efficiency and thus the competitiveness of the industries and standard of living of households. Ágh discusses the Central and East European democratic transitions as parts of the global democratization process, including their both external and domestic aspects. Comisso examines three variants of substantive democracy: liberal, national, and egalitarian. Each links democratic government to a particular social and economic order, none of which fully describes the actual situation within most states in the area.