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Stretching Postcommunism: Diversity, Context, and Comparative Historical Analysis

Although small-N comparison has become increasingly useful in accounting for postcommunist diversity, most comparative studies tend to focus on a single geographic region (such as East-Central Europe), failing to fully exploit the comparative method and running the risk of selection bias by arbitrarily reducing the variation on a relevant variable. To guard against this risk, two political scientists adapt Sartori's logic of "conceptual stretching" to articulate a definition of postcommunism that enables a wider array of comparable cases without losing the concept's intended analytic function. The article also considers a number of atypical "postcommunist" cases as well as empirical puzzles where these cases can be fruitfully utilized.