Backstage Democracy: The Dynamics of Business-Politics Nexus in Lithuania

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 and thus 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. These and other features make it a valuable resource in higher education settings, offering a case study at hand, which can be used in courses on corruption, business ethics, democracy, EU studies, areas studies focused on Central and Eastern Europe or the post-Soviet space.

Ainius Lasas is the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology. 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.