Backstage Democracy

"A welcome and relevant study with an innovate approach, this book provides a sharp insight into processes of business-politics relations within Lithuanian society and does so from a wide perspective. A well-designed research that gives the ability to grasp the depth of the problems and makes a useful reading both for researchers and international policy makers."

Laurynas PakStaitis, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania

Ainius LaSas reveals the world of informal networks and shady arrangements that represent the blind spots of mainstream political science. He guides us through "backstage democracy" in a theoretically competent and empirically responsible manner. His understanding of informal politics is unique and his conclusions make us hope that the marriage of business and politics does not inevitably result in "dirty togetherness."

Jan Zielonka, Professor of European Politics at the University of Oxford, UK, and Ca'Foscari University of Venice, Italy This book investigates how the actual dynamics of business-state relations work in a democracy and their changes overtime. The focus is limited to one country because access to high-level sources, who are able to openly discuss the nature of the business-politics nexus, cannot be easily replicated. The study is distinctive in a number of ways. First, its focus on politics and business touches upon a number of academic disciplines - business sciences, political science, public policy and administration. Second, it is not limited to a static picture of a relatively new democracy, but instead examines the dynamics of change over the last twenty years. As such, it talks to situations in a number of other countries, especially those in Central and Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space. Third, the methodological approach, which combines anonymous interviews, mass media sources, governmental and non-governmental reports, is not very typical andthus provides a relatively fresh perspective on studying such social phenomena. Finally, the study offers original theoretical and analytical frames that can be conveniently applied and tested in other national/regional contexts. Ainius LaSas is the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. His research focuses on informal political culture and its practices in transitional democracies.

Auteur

Ainius LaSas is the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. Before joining the university, he held a lectureship at the University of Bath (UK), a Senior Research fellowship at St. Anthony College, University of Oxford and a Postdoctoral fellowship at the United Nations University (Japan). His research focuses on informal political culture and its practices in transitional democracies.