Talk of the Nation

"Talk of the Nation presents an empirically rich, well-conceptualized, thoroughly analyzed, and logically organized study of the role of domestic political actors in the democratic transition processes in Romania and Slovakia and the way in which they dealt with the challenges arising from the multiethnic/multilingual nature of the two states." -- Stefan Wolff, University of Nottingham
"This is an elegant and empirically rich comparative study of how domestic and international politics shaped both debates about the nation and democratization in Slovakia and Romania. Zsuzsa Csergo turns much of the common wisdom about nationalism, democratization, and the impact of the European Union on its head. Perhaps her most important argument is that struggles between elites and parties representing the majority versus the minority kept the national question alive, while contributing in the process to democratic development." -- Valerie Bunce, Aaron Binenkorb Chair of International Studies and Chair of the Government Department, Cornell University
"This is an original, well-written, and thoroughly researched book on the language politics of post-Communist Europe. Zsuzsa Csergo addresses the broad question of why language politics matters for understanding high politics in a European context. While remaining fair in her treatment of controversial topics, Csergo shows why key decisions by majority and minority elites in Romania and Slovakia helped keep their disputes from becoming sources of widespread social mobilization and even violence." -- Charles King, Chair of the Faculty and Ion Ratiu Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University