> A simpler explanation is that you swapped cause and effect: it's the countries where the economy struggled, where their people regret leaving their previous s

> A simpler explanation is that you swapped cause and effect: it's the countries where the economy struggled, where their people regret leaving their previous socialist economy. That's a simpler explanation, indeed. It's also wrong. Take the 2 examples of GP. In Bulgaria, the first elections after the first president after the fall of the dictatorship was Petar Mladenov, a former politburo member. The first parliamentary elections were similarly won by the communist party. In Yugoslavia, Milosevic remained leader for decades. In both cases the "nostalgia" had already set in before anyone had the chance to experience any I'll effects caused by democracy.