There was a remarkable homogeneity in the view taken by Western political scientists and economists of the desirable path of reform in the communist countries. This view was that there should be a rapid transition to a free market economy and political democracy along with the overthrow of communist party rule, as well as a dramatic reduction in the economic functions of the state. This reflected the mainstream of Western political and economic orthodoxy in the 1980s. The contributions to this book challenge this view. They do so from the standpoint of economic and political theory, and from an evaluation of the comparative experience of different reforming countries in Europe and Asia. The contrast between the mostly very poor results of the transformation in countries which have pursued the mainstream approach to reform and the mostly excellent results in those countries that have taken an incremental approach to transforming the communist system is one of the central issues for political economy today. This book represents the first systematic attempt to try to explain this puzzling outcome.