Public Research Edition — August 2026
Comparative cases are used to test institutional questions, not to import a foreign model wholesale. Each case is labeled by jurisdiction, historical context and the specific transition problem it helps illuminate.
Security-sector transition
Poland’s 1990 transition provides evidence on dissolving or replacing security institutions, personnel vetting, temporary continuity of essential security functions, individual service rights and the difference between passing vetting and receiving a permanent appointment. It shows how institutional discontinuity can coexist with continuity of selected functions and legally protected individual rights.
Questions tested across cases
- How are armed forces and security organs placed under constitutional civilian authority?
- How are former personnel screened without treating institutional affiliation alone as individual guilt?
- How are essential state functions preserved while abusive institutions are dismantled or redesigned?
- How are emergency powers terminated and prevented from becoming permanent?
- How are old and new political actors given credible guarantees sufficient to accept electoral competition and peaceful transfer?
Comparative findings remain analytical evidence. They do not by themselves establish what a future Chinese transition should adopt.
Free China 