Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis

The essays in this volume examine democracy’s development in the United States, demonstrating how that process has shaped—and continues to shape—the American political system.

Scholars of American politics commonly describe the political development of the United States as exceptional and distinct from that of other advanced industrial democracies. They point to the United States as the longest-lived and most stable liberal democracy in history. What they often fail to mention, though, is that it took considerable time to extend democracy throughout the country.

The contributors to this volume suggest that it is intellectually fruitful to consider the U.S. case in comparison to other countries. They argue that the development of democracy is ongoing in America; that even with a written constitution grounded in liberal democracy, the meaning and significance of U.S. democracy are still evolving. This volume shows that democratization and the pursuit of democracy are processes affected by multiple and continuing challenges—including such issues as citizenship, race, institution building, and political movements—as patterns and practices of politics and governance continue to change.

This innovative approach contributes significantly to comparative democratization studies, a field normally confined to Latin America and former communist countries. The U.S. case is a unique reference point for students of American political development and comparative democratization.

1101796552
Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis

The essays in this volume examine democracy’s development in the United States, demonstrating how that process has shaped—and continues to shape—the American political system.

Scholars of American politics commonly describe the political development of the United States as exceptional and distinct from that of other advanced industrial democracies. They point to the United States as the longest-lived and most stable liberal democracy in history. What they often fail to mention, though, is that it took considerable time to extend democracy throughout the country.

The contributors to this volume suggest that it is intellectually fruitful to consider the U.S. case in comparison to other countries. They argue that the development of democracy is ongoing in America; that even with a written constitution grounded in liberal democracy, the meaning and significance of U.S. democracy are still evolving. This volume shows that democratization and the pursuit of democracy are processes affected by multiple and continuing challenges—including such issues as citizenship, race, institution building, and political movements—as patterns and practices of politics and governance continue to change.

This innovative approach contributes significantly to comparative democratization studies, a field normally confined to Latin America and former communist countries. The U.S. case is a unique reference point for students of American political development and comparative democratization.

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Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis

Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis

Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis

Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis

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Overview

The essays in this volume examine democracy’s development in the United States, demonstrating how that process has shaped—and continues to shape—the American political system.

Scholars of American politics commonly describe the political development of the United States as exceptional and distinct from that of other advanced industrial democracies. They point to the United States as the longest-lived and most stable liberal democracy in history. What they often fail to mention, though, is that it took considerable time to extend democracy throughout the country.

The contributors to this volume suggest that it is intellectually fruitful to consider the U.S. case in comparison to other countries. They argue that the development of democracy is ongoing in America; that even with a written constitution grounded in liberal democracy, the meaning and significance of U.S. democracy are still evolving. This volume shows that democratization and the pursuit of democracy are processes affected by multiple and continuing challenges—including such issues as citizenship, race, institution building, and political movements—as patterns and practices of politics and governance continue to change.

This innovative approach contributes significantly to comparative democratization studies, a field normally confined to Latin America and former communist countries. The U.S. case is a unique reference point for students of American political development and comparative democratization.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781421418674
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date: 09/15/2009
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 352
File size: 5 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Desmond King is a professor of American government at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and author of The Liberty of Strangers: Making the American Nation. Robert C. Lieberman is provost of Johns Hopkins University and author of Shaping Race Policy: The United States in Comparative Perspective. Gretchen Ritter is a professor of government and vice provost at the University of Texas at Austin and author of The Constitution as a Social Design: Gender and Civic Membership in the American Constitutional Order. Laurence Whitehead is Official Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. His many publications on democratization and comparative politics include Latin America: A New Interpretation.


Laurence Whitehead is a senior research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University. He is the author of Democratization: Theory and Experience.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Part I: Setting the Theoretical Context
Chapter 1. American Political Development as a Process of Democratization
Chapter 2. Two Comparative Democratization Perspectives: "Brown Areas" and "Immanence"
Chapter 3. Two-Tier Citizenship: The Unresolved Challenge of Puerto Rico's Electoral Exclusion
Chapter 4. Same Dream, Different Fates: Latinos' Inclusion/Exclusion and U.S. Democratization
Part II: Constitutionalism and Democratization
Chapter 5. Gender and Democracy in the American Constitutional Order
Chapter 6. The Reversal of Black Voting Rights after Reconstruction
Chapter 7. Deliberation, Incivility, and Race in Electoral Campaigns
Part III: Federal Institutions, Race, and Democratic Reform
Chapter 8. Democratizing Authority: The Multiple Motives behind Black Police Appointments in the Twentieth-Century United States
Chapter 9. Civil Rights and the Democratization Trap: The Public-Private Nexus and the Building of American Democracy
Part IV: New Agendas
Chapter 10. The Development of Democratic Citizenship: Toward a New Research Agenda
Chapter 11. American Political Development and Comparative Democratization
Notes
References
List of Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

An exceptionally provocative framework for understanding American political development. It will inspire new research and fruitful discussion among both established scholars and graduate students in comparative politics and American political development.
—Richard Valelly, Swarthmore College

Richard Valelly

An exceptionally provocative framework for understanding American political development. It will inspire new research and fruitful discussion among both established scholars and graduate students in comparative politics and American political development.

Richard Valelly, Swarthmore College

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