Pero MAldini Socio-CulturalAspectsofTransition Introduction Establishment of democratic regimes in former authoritarian so- cieties has emphasized the importance and vitality of democracy and marked large social, political and cultural changes. But, in spite of institutional and normative constitution of democracy and its general acceptability in almost all transitional societies, there are obvious and great differences in the attained democratic range within various post- communist societies. Instead of transformation process and democratic consolidation in many transition societies, one can often find undemo- cratic political practice with certain retrograde processes, contrary to democratic transformation of society. Such experiences indicate that transition is not unambiguous and predictable process of social deve- lopment which necessarily leads towards democratic regime, and also that normative-institutional democratic constitution is not sufficient to make a political regime democratic. Therefore, democratic legitimacy and the efficient functioning of a democratic system are key issues for the process of democratic conso- lidation in post-communist societies. Namely, socioeconomic factors (economic development, social modernization) were often emphasized as necessary prerequisites for success of transitional process, neverthe- less, they are neither sufficient, nor give answers to questions about reasons for democratic success (or failure) of a particular society. 1 1 E.g., why some post-communist societies have, initially, shorter economic degree and go considerable farther in transitional processes, than those with the higher starting economic Citation: Maldini, Pero (2007): Sociocultural Aspects of Transition, in: Maldini, Pero / Vidović, Davorka (eds.): Transition in Central and Eastern European Countries: Experiences and future perspectives, Centar za politološka istraživanja, Zagreb, pp. 63-76