Communism and Europe

             of nationalism and ethnic differences. Preuss notes that when .
             the constitutional state gained favor in North America, .
             it was founded on the principle of the unitary state; it was not .
             designed to address the lack of national identity which is found .
             throughout Europe - and which is counter to the concept of the .
             constitutional state (48). "Measured in terms of socioeconomic .
             modernization," writes Helga A. Welsh, "Central and Eastern .
             European countries had reached a level that was considered .
             conducive to the emergence of pluralistic policies" (19). It .
             seemed that the sole reason the downfall of communism, as it .
             were, took so long was the veto power of the Soviet Union. .
             According to theories of modernization, the higher the levels of .
             socioeconomic achievement, the greater the pressure for open .
             competition and, ultimately, democracy. As such, the nations in .
             Eastern and Central Europe were seen as "anomalies in .
             socioeconomically highly-developed countries where particularly .
             intellectual power resources have become widespread" (Welsh 19). .
             Due to their longtime adherence to communist policies, these .
             nations faced great difficulty in making the transition to a .
             pluralist system as well as a market economy. According to .
             Preuss, these problems were threefold: The genuine economic .
             devastations wrought by the communist regimes, the transformation .
             of the social and economic classes of the command economy into .
             the social and economic lasses of a capitalist economy and, .
             finally, the creation of a constitutional structure for .
             political entities that lack the undisputed integrity of a nation .
             state (48). .
             With such problems as these to contend with in re- .
             engineering their entire economic and political systems, the .
             people of East Germany seemed to be in a particularly enviable .
             position. Economically, they were poised to unite with one of .
             the richest countries, having one of the strongest economies, in .