Whether or not this epigraph remains plausible nearly a half century after it was written, it is clear that the postcommunist Czechs and Hungarians are hardly novel in their approximations of Western practices and structures. In a region long characterized by “backwardness,” Western European states have often appeared as models for reform (Janos 2000).

But we have seen that emulation is both hard to do and hard to describe. It is hard to do because elites must do more than simply copy best practices. Rather, they must understand how attractive foreign models actually work, agree with other actors on the desirability of emulating them, and be able to execute their plans (Jacoby 2000). All of these are challenges. It is easy to misperceive how foreign models actually work — to see only their virtues and miss their vices. Actors must overcome political disagreements about the desirability and appropriateness of particular foreign models for their society. And actors must persevere through difficulties in implementing foreign-inspired practices and designs. Unfortunately, the major macrosociological and political science research tradition — that of diffusion — has a markedly difficult time with these complexities since it blends out uncertainty and disagreement in favor of tracking the spread of highly stylized models and generally ignores the implementation phase altogether.