Authors
Tjaša Konovšek1; 1 Institute of Contemporary History, Slovenia Discussion
The 1990s were marked by a political and academic debate on the nature and success or failure of the political transition after the fall of communism. Based on the widespread desire of post-socialist states to join the EEC/EU, policymakers focused on the normative requirements that would enable them to meet the requirements. On closer examination, many of the 'taken for granted' propositions on which the historiography of recent decades has been built should be called into question. One such assumption is the assumed correlation between the success of the state and the break with the old regime noted in the context of 1989. Focusing on the challenges of transition and the policy goals of the new and old ruling elites, I aim to highlight the main issues that arose in the context of reshaping the political space, as well as concrete, 'home-grown' solutions that local politicians and intellectuals developed for specific problems, concerning democracy building and economic development. I propose Slovenia as a case study, because it had a strong tradition of Yugoslav workers' self-government and one-party pluralism. The gradualness of change in Slovenia should thus be interpreted as an antithesis to revolution. It can be seen in the Slovene independence referendum (1990), constitutional changes, economic transition, cooperation of political elites, in the political discourse, and in the non-existent lustration. 
