Transition from Communism to Democracy: A Case Study of Democratic Transition in RussiaCommunism is a political system that has been used many times, in which all property belongs to the state. and people are paid according to their needs and abilities. Many countries used this political system in the years after 1917, such as Croatia and Russia, and it is still used today. The ideology of communism or more specifically Marxism is presented in the book The Communist Manifesto. Karl Marx, author of the Communist Manifesto, said that “the history of every society up to the present is the history of class struggles.” Alluding to these class struggles ultimately leading to a great revolution. The revolution would incite proletariats (workers) to rise up against the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class that owns most of society's wealth and means of production) and create a world where ownership is public and wealth is distributed fairly among all. Marxist ideas were previously used by many countries and most of them were taken over and transformed into totalitarian states. These ideas go against the ideas of communism and corruption is one of the reasons for the fall of communism which led Croatia and Russia to transition to democracy. The Rise of CommunismCommunism, as Karl Marx said, has existed since the dawn of time. However, it was not until the 19th century that Russian workers widely accepted the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. Workers valued the communist system because of their many negative experiences under Tsarist rule. Tsar Nicholas II's inadequacy as a political and military leader, as demonstrated when he appointed himself Commander-in-Chief in order to boost morale. The short term...... middle of paper ......0-51. doi:10.1016/j.euras.2010.10.001 Galbraith, J. K. (2002). Shock without therapy. The American perspective. (15), 36. Hauss, Charles. Comparative politics: national responses to global challenges: a Canadian perspective. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Nikola Bartulica, S. (2013). Lessons learned from the transition from communism to free market democracy: the case of Croatia. Catholic Social Sciences Review, 18187-202. Marx, K. and Engels, F. (2008). The Communist Manifesto [electronic resource] / Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, with an introduction by David Harvey. London: Pluto, c2008.Nelson, Brian R. Western Political Thought: From Socrates to the Age of Ideology. 2nd editionPrentice Hall. New Jersey: 1996 Schmitter, Philippe C., Karl, Terry L.. What is democracy. ..and is not Journal of Democracy, Vol. 2, no. 3. (1991), pp... 75-88