Transitions to Democracy

by Lisa Anderson (Editor)

Overview

Are the factors that initiate democratization the same as those that maintain a democracy already established? The scholarly and policy debates over this question have never been more urgent. In 1970, Dankwart A. Rustow's clairvoyant article "Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model" questioned the conflation of the primary causes and sustaining conditions of democracy and democratization. Now this collection of essays by distinguished scholars responds to and extends Rustow's classic work, Transitions to Democracy--which originated as a special issue of the journal Comparative Politics and contains three new articles written especially for this volume--represents much of the current state of the large and growing literature on democratization in American political science. The essays simultaneously illustrate the remarkable reach of Rustow's prescient article across the decades and reveal what the intervening years have taught us.

In light of the enormous opportunities of the post-Cold War world for the promotion of democratic government in parts of the world once thought hopelessly lost of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, this timely collection constitutes and important contribution to the debates and efforts to promote the more open, responsive, and accountable government we associate with democracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231502474
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	09/22/1999
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	1 MB

Table of Contents

1. "Introduction: The Political Science of Democratic Transitions"; Lisa Anderson
2. Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model; Dankwart A. Rustow
3. Constitutions, The Federalist Papers, and the Transition to Democracy; Irving Leonard Markovitz
4. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions; Stephan Haggard and Robert R. Kaufman
5. Adding Collective Actors to Collective Outcomes: Labor and Recent Democratization in South America and Southern Europe; Ruth Berins Collier and James Mahoney
6. Myths of Moderation: Confrontation and Conflict During Democratic Transitions; Nancy Bermeo
7. Bureaucracy and Democratic Consolidation: Lessons from Eastern Europe; Ezra Suleiman
8. The Paradoxes of Contemporary Democracy: Formal, Participatory, and Social Dimensions; Evelyne Huber, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and John D. Stephens
9. Modes of Transition and Democratization: South America and Eastern Europe in Comparative Perspective; Gerardo L. Munck and Carol Skalnik Leff
10. "Explaining India's Transition to Democracy"; Sumit Ganguly
11. Democratization in Africa after 1989: Comparative and Theoretical Perspectives; Richard Joseph
12. Fortuitous Byproducts; John Waterbury

These specially commissioned rethinkings and responses to Rustow´s classic 1970 'dynamic model´ of transitions to democracy constitute a major contribution to the flourishing field of 'transitology´ (the study of democratic transitions). They enrich Rustow´s model with new cases, new actors, and new scenarios, making an essential volume for all students of the subject. (Andrew J. Nathan, ColumbiaUniversity)

Due to its themes addressed, assumptions challenged, and new regions integrated, this volume makes a major contribution to the democratization field. (Alfred Stepan, All Souls College, Oxford University)

What People are Saying About This

Alfred Stepan

Due to its themes addressed, assumptions challenged, and new regions integrated, this volume makes a major contribution to the democratization field.

— Alfred Stepan, All Souls College, Oxford University

Editorial Reviews

A collection of articles first published in April 1997 as a special issue of the journal , plus three additional chapters. Articles represent much of the current state of the literature on democratization in American political science, and respond to an article written in 1970 by Dankwart A. Rustow, "Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model." Topics include the political economy of democratic transitions, bureaucracy and democratic consolidation, and India's transition to democracy. The editor is professor of political science and dean of the school of international and public affairs at Columbia University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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