The Burdens of Freedom: Eastern Europe since 1989
* Acknowledgements * Maps * Introduction: The Shock of the New * 1. Different Paths on an Open Road: Economic and Social Change * 2. In Praise of Ethnic Cleansing? National Struggles * 3. Peeling the Past: Nostalgia and Punishment * 4. Portraits in Hubris: Democratic Politics * 5. A New Europe: The East in the West * Conclusion: The Edge of History * Notes * Index
Out of the Red : Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the countries of East-Central Europe embarked on a journey to transform themselves into democratic capitalist societies. Their governments searched for strategies that would allow them to pursue radical market reforms within the context of nascent democratic politics. Poland adopted a neoliberal strategy that attempted to push through as much reform as possible before an antireform backlash could occur. In the Czech Republic, a social liberal strategy for transformation attempted to combine neoliberal macro-economic policies with social democratic measures designed to avert such a backlash.A detailed analysis of Poland and the Czech Republic suggests that alternation between strategies has been the secret to the success of East-Central European countries.This comparative case analysis identifies the significance of reform mistakes during transition and the corrective benefits of policy alternation, its claims illustrated with an in-depth study of privatization policy in the two countries.Mitchell A. Orenstein delves into the historic struggle to build capitalism and democracy during a decade of post- communist transition in East-Central Europe and develops a model that explains why democratic policy alternation may accelerate policy learning under conditions of uncertainty and constraint."Out of the Red" is accessible to a general audience and as such is suitable for both graduate and undergraduate courses on political economy. It will be of particular interest to economists, political scientists, sociologists, students of postcommunism, and anyone interested in the relations between capitalism and democracy in the contemporary world.Mitchell A. Orenstein is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University.
Stability of planar PEMFC in Printed Circuit Board technology
Abstract The use of planar PEMFCs in printed circuit board (PCB) technology with a thickness of less than 3.5 mm are presented. This planar design consists of an open cathode side which allows a completely passive, self-breathing operation of the fuel cell. Power densities of 100 mW/cm 2 at 500 mV with hydrogen as a fuel were achieved. A steady operation with this type of fuel cell was demonstrated over a week without any cell flooding. Since the electrical conducting elements of PCBs usually are made of copper, corrosion in the wet environment of a PEMFC is expected. Thus, a significant degradation in performance of fuel cells made of plain copper PCBs was seen in long-term operation. In order to avoid corrosion, the copper layer has to be coated. Fuel cells in PCB design with diverse coatings were tested in long-term operations up to 1000 h under load. Moreover, corrosion currents have been determined by the use of potentiodynamic scans. Promising coatings are electroplated Cr and Ni and a combination of Ni/Au.