The transition to democracy and markets in the post-communist countries has produced many losers. Survey research has indicated that the populations of most of these states look back to the later decades of these regimes as ones of relative security and prosperity. The gainers have been those who valued freedom, and possessed the material resources (because of political or mafia connections) or social capital (because of their experience in the second economy under communism) to use it to their advantage. The recent electoral victory of the former communists in Poland, and the routing of Solidarity, indicate the depth of anxiety about the social consequences and costs of transition.