This thesis proceeds from the premise that the demise of the Communist
systems of rule in Eastern Europe is not fully explicable using ''traditional" theories of
transition or democratisation. This thesis is, therefore, concerned initially with the
limitations of existing theoretical frameworks. It proposes a line of enquiry that
accounts for the breakdown of Communism through an analysis of a domestic
variable: second society. In particular, it addresses the question of why the former
European Communist regimes experienced differing modes of breakdown in 1989.
The thesis adopts a comparative approach and focuses on the three different cases of
Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania. By comparing them, it analyses the extent to
which variations in the modes of breakdown can be explained by the second society
variable. The case studies are divided into three sections. The first considers the
historical issues and factors that conditioned the nature of the Communist regime and
of emerging opposition. The second analyses the development of second society
within each country and the third section considers the impact of second society on
the mode of regime breakdown in 1989. The thesis concludes that the case studies ,
demonstrate a causal relationship between the second society variable and the mode
of breakdown experienced by the Communist regimes
