Generational differences in values in central and Eastern Europe: The effects of politico-economic transition

This article explores the effects of post-communist transition and European enlargement on intergenerational politico-economic values in three groups of countries: Central and Eastern European countries that became European Union members; countries with EU membership prospects; and those that have no membership prospects, at least in the foreseeable future. The analysis indicates considerable differences between these three groups of countries and shows that over time Europeanization served as an intra-cohort mechanism of social change: it smoothed over intergenerational differences and led to a trend of convergence in values between new Eastern members of the EU and Western Europe. Europeanization also appears to have some harmonizing power on intergenerational differences in countries with EU membership prospects. At the same time, the rough post-communist transition process and the lack of consolidation mechanisms created considerable intergenerational differences in European countries without EU membership prospects, as revealed by the dominance of cohort replacement mechanism in these countries.