Institute
Modern conservatism and Bulgaria’s future
Bulgaria’s failed transition
Plamen Youroukov
After breaking free from communism, Bulgarians found themselves in a radically new environment - one fraught with a fundamental dilemma. Although discredited in citizens’ eyes, the old state institutions were nevertheless expected to deliver on Bulgarians’ expectations for democracy, freedom, and economic prosperity. At the same time, a newly mobilized public demanded more personal freedom and less state interference in their lives. Exacerbating such a contradiction has been the domination of Bulgaria’s political life during most of the last 19 years by the Socialists and other leftist parties that exploited this dilemma by expanding the state yet failing to meet citizens’ core expectations.
This failure is especially stark in Bulgaria’s economy. The early post-communist state and the former secret services in Bulgaria used criminal business practices to discredit the ideals of democracy and capitalism.[1] It is no coincidence that the former communists used typically Marxist terminology (accumulation of capital, exploitation, etc.) to describe economic processes in the post-communist economy. They wanted to pit citizens against the transitions to democracy and capitalism. At the end, the state remained powerful and extensive, but at the same time continued to be rather incompetent and unable to meet growing expectations. Even today, the state appropriates a very substantial part of the national product, attempts to plan the economic development of the country, and takes on too many functions which are better left to other institutions.