Young reformist heirs won legitimacy through mentorship by reliable old elites.
Evidence
As young, well-educated, and personable party members (and since their mentor, a reliable older party member, vouched for them, thus reassuring any remaining old elites), they were the ideal candidates to represent the Slovak party in late 1989. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 344
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Institutional legacies persist through deliberate elite action, not inertia alone — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 371; Policy-reform experience and prior opposition negotiations gave elites portable skills later rewarded in democracy. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 368; Elite skills and party cohesion drive successful postcommunist transformation. — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 72 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- A political mentor can convert an uncompromising idealist into a pragmatic operative
#exemplifies(0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 595 - Policy-reform experience and prior opposition negotiations gave elites portable skills later rewarded in democracy.
#corroborates(0.80) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 368 - Institutional legacies persist through deliberate elite action, not inertia alone
#expands(0.75) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 371 - Elite skills and party cohesion drive successful postcommunist transformation.
#qualifies(0.75) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 72 - Regime collapse preserves inherited advantages for some elites
#corroborates(0.75) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 1514 - Elite skill and pragmatism, not ideology, drove successful party transformation.
#qualifies(0.75) - Reformist elites seized party control by displacing the retreating old guard
#complicates(0.72) — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past, 504