From Romania to Germany, from Tallinn to
Belgrade, a major historical process—the death of
communism—is taking place. The German
Democratic Republic no longer exists as a separate
5 state. And the former German Democratic Republic
will serve as the first measure of the price a post-
Communist society has to pay for entering the normal
European orbit. In Yugoslavia we will see whether
the federation can survive without communism.
10 One thing seems common to all these countries:
dictatorship has been defeated and freedom has won,
yet the victory of freedom has not yet meant the
triumph of democracy. Democracy is something
more than freedom. Democracy is freedom
15 institutionalized, freedom submitted to the limits of
the law, freedom functioning as an object of
compromise between the major political forces on the
scene.
We have freedom, but we still have not achieved
20 the democratic order. That is why this freedom is so
fragile. In the years of democratic opposition to
communism, we supposed that the easiest thing
would be to introduce changes in the economy. In
fact, we thought that the march from a planned economy
25 to a market economy would take place within
the framework of the bureaucratic system, and that
the market within the Communist state would
explode the totalitarian structures. Only then would
the time come to build the institutions of a civil society
30 ; and only at the end, with the completion of the
market economy and the civil society, would the time
of great political transformations finally arrive.
The opposite happened. First came the big political
change, the great shock, which either broke the
35 monopoly and the principle of Communist Party rule
or simply pushed the Communists out of power.
then came the creation of civil society, whose institutions
were created in great pain, and which had
trouble negotiating the empty space of freedom.
40 Only then, as the third moment of change, the final
task was undertaken: that of transforming the totalitarian
economy into a normal economy where different
forms of ownership and different economic actors
will live one next to the other.
45 Today we are in a typical moment of transition.
No one can say where we are headed. The people of
the democratic opposition have the feeling that we
won. We taste the sweetness of our victory the same
way the Communists, only yesterday our prison
50 guards, taste the bitterness of their defeat. Yet, even
as we are conscious of our victory, we feel that we
are, in a strange way, losing. In Bulgaria the
Communists have won the parliamentary elections
and will govern the country, without losing their
55 social legitimacy. In Romania the National Salvation
Front, largely dominated by people from the old
Communist bureaucracy, has won. In other countries
democratic institutions seem shaky, and the political
horizon is cloudy. The masquerade goes on: dozens
60 of groups and parties are created, each announces
similar slogans, each accuses its adversaries of all
possible sins, and each declares itself representative
of the national interest. Personal disputes are more
important than disputes over values. Arguments over
65 values are fiercer than arguments over ideas.
1. The author originally thought that the order of
events in the transformation of communist
society would be represented by which one of the
following?
(A) A great political shock would break the
totalitarian monopoly, leaving in its wake
a civil society whose task would be to
change the state-controlled market into a
free economy.
(B) The transformation of the economy would
destroy totalitarianism, after which a new
and different social and political structure
would be born.
(C) First the people would freely elect
political representatives who would
transform the economy, which would then
undermine the totalitarian structure.
(D) The change to a democratic state would
necessarily undermine totalitarianism,
after which a new economic order would
be created.
(E) The people’s frustration would build until
it spontaneously generated violent revolution,
which would sentence society to
years of anarchy and regression.
2. Beginning in the second paragraph, the author
describes the complicated relationship between
“freedom” and “democracy.” In the author’s
view, which one of the following statements best
reflects that relationship?
(A) A country can have freedom without
having democracy.
(B) If a country has freedom, it necessarily
has democracy.
(C) A country can have democracy without
having freedom.
(D) A country can never have democracy if it
has freedom.
(E) If a country has democracy, it cannot have
freedom.
3. From the passage, a reader could conclude that
which one of the following best describes the
author’s attitude toward the events that have
taken place in communist society?
(A) Relieved that at last the democratic order
has surfaced.
(B) Clearly wants to return to the old order.
(C) Disappointed with the nature of the
democracy that has emerged.
(D) Confident that a free economy will ultimately
provide the basis for a true
democracy.
(E) Surprised that communism was toppled
through political rather than economic
means.
4. A cynic who has observed political systems in
various countries would likely interpret the
author’s description of the situation at the end of
the passage as
(A) evidence that society is still in the throws
of the old totalitarian structure.
(B) a distorted description of the new political
system.
(C) a necessary political reality that is a prelude
to “democracy.”
(D) a fair description of many democratic
political systems.
(E) evidence of the baseness of people.
5. Which one of the following does the author
imply may have contributed to the difficulties
involved in creating a new democratic order in
eastern Europe?
I. The people who existed under the totalitarian
structure have not had the experience
of “negotiating the empty space of
freedom.”
II. Mistaking the order in which political,
economic, and social restructuring would
occur.
III. Excessive self-interest among the new
political activists.
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and III only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III
6. By stating “even as we are conscious of our
victory, we feel that we are, in a strange way,
losing” (lines 50–52) the author means that
(A) some of the old governments are still
unwilling to grant freedom at the individual
level.
(B) some of the new governments are not
strong enough to exist as a single
federation.
(C) some of the new democratic governments
are electing to retain the old political
parties.
(D) no new parties have been created to fill the
vacuum created by the victory of freedom.
(E) some of the new governments are reverting
to communism.
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CORRECT ANSWERS ARE
1. This is a description question, so you should
locate the point in the passage from which it was
drawn. It is the third paragraph. In lines 23–28,
the author recalls his expectation that, by introducing
the market system, the communist system
would topple from within.
Be careful not to choose (A). It chronicles
how the events actually occurred,
not how they were anticipated to occur.
(A) is baited with the words “great
shock,” “monopoly,” and “civil society.”
The answer is (B).
2. This is an extension question, so the answer
must say more than what is said in the passage,
without requiring a quantum leap in thought.
The needed reference is “Democracy is something
more than freedom” (lines 13–14). Since
freedom can exist without democracy, freedom
alone does not insure democracy.
The answer is (A).
3. This is a tone question. The key to answering
this question is found in the closing comments.
There the author states “The masquerade goes
on,” referring to nascent democracies. So he has
reservations about the newly emerging
democracies.
Watch out for (E). Although it is
supported by the passage, it is in a
supporting paragraph. The ideas in a
concluding paragraph take precedence
over those in a supporting
paragraph.
The answer is (C).
4. This is an application question. These are like
extension questions, but they go well beyond
what is stated in the passage. In this case we are
asked to interpret the author’s comments from a
cynic’s perspective. Because application questions
go well beyond the passage, they are often
difficult, as is this one.
A cynic looks at reality from a negative
perspective, usually with a sense
of dark irony and hopelessness.
Don’t make the mistake of choosing (E).
Although a cynic is likely to make such a statement,
it does not address the subject of the
passage—political and economic systems. The
passage is not about human nature, at least not
directly. The answer is (D).
5. This is an extension question. Statement I is
true. In lines 37–39, the author implies that the
institutions of the new-born, free society were
created in great pain because the people lacked
experience. Statement II is true. Expectations
that the market mechanisms would explode
totalitarianism and usher in a new society were
dashed, and having to readjust one’s expectations
certainly makes a situation more difficult.
Finally, statement III is true. It summarizes the
thrust of the passage’s closing lines.
The answer is (E).
6. This is a hybrid extension and description
question. Because it refers to a specific point in
the passage, you must read a few sentences
before and after it. The answer can be found in
lines 52–65.
The answer is (C).
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