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This paper uses an approach inspired by Alexander Wendt's constructivism in order to analyze the rise and fall of three post-Communist "soft" authoritarian regimes responsible for Romania's, Bulgaria's, and Slovakia's difficult democratization: the neo-Communist regime of president Ion Iliescu (1990-1996) that used ultra-nationalism in order to legitimize itself as well as to hamper the development of democratic values; the ultra-nationalist regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Mečiar in newly independent Slovakia (1993-1998); and the neo-Communist regime of Prime Minister Jan Videnov in Bulgaria (1995-1997).The three authoritarian regimes were able to hamper but not to eliminate the influence of external factors. Bucharest, Sofia, and Bratislava were members of three institutional structures - the CSCE/OSCE, European Union's Europe Agreements, and NATO's Partnership for Peace - that facilitated the diffusion of Western democratic values. This led to the progressive development of vibrant civil societies, which in turn seriously eroded political support for neo-Communists and ultra-nationalists. In 1996-1998, electoral "revolutions" brought the fall of the three regimes. The new, democratic ruling forces took resolute steps toward democratization that allowed the three countries to finally join the rest of CEE-10 states in their NATO and EU accession efforts. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]