Evaluate the response to political challenges in the post-communist era in one Central or Eastern European country (excluding Russia).

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the response to political challenges in the post-communist era in one Central or Eastern European country, excluding Russia. Candidates may refer to the challenge of writing new constitutions to embrace democratic principles alongside the need to remove entrenched systems and politicians who remained in place after the transition from Communism. Candidates may evaluate responses to such challenges by referring, for example, to an end to press censorship; the establishment of rule by law; and opportunities for citizens to freely express their political views. In former Soviet republics, such as the Baltic States, the rights of Russian minorities needed to be addressed and candidates may evaluate the response to citizenship being linked, for instance, to language tests. The response to the recovery of the memory of events, suppressed by Communist regimes, may be evaluated with reference made to the erection or removal of statues, the memorialization of the oppressed and the establishment of “museums of the occupation”. Candidates may also evaluate political responses to the challenges posed by the replacement of state-owned industries with private enterprise. Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates make an appraisal of the response to political challenges in the post-communist era in one Central or Eastern European country (excluding Russia). Very few responses were seen to this question.