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Cover image of The Global Divergence of Democracies
Cover image of The Global Divergence of Democracies
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The Global Divergence of Democracies

edited by Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner

Publication Date

Drawn from outstanding articles published in the Journal of Democracy, The Global Divergence of Democracies follows the enthusiastically received earlier volume, The Global Resurgence of Democracy.

The tremendous momentum of democratic expansion that characterized the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s has drawn to a halt. Significantly, this halt has not yet been followed by a "reverse wave"of democratic breakdowns, and democracy remains unchallenged as a global model and ideal of governance. The values of freedom, human rights, and popular sovereignty have continued to gain strength in the...

Drawn from outstanding articles published in the Journal of Democracy, The Global Divergence of Democracies follows the enthusiastically received earlier volume, The Global Resurgence of Democracy.

The tremendous momentum of democratic expansion that characterized the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s has drawn to a halt. Significantly, this halt has not yet been followed by a "reverse wave"of democratic breakdowns, and democracy remains unchallenged as a global model and ideal of governance. The values of freedom, human rights, and popular sovereignty have continued to gain strength in the world. The first section of The Global Divergence of Democracies presents a few outstanding examples of the accumulating body of argument and evidence in favor of the universality of democratic principles and their basic compatibility with diverse religious and cultural traditions.

Nonetheless, in practice, the performance of the world's newer democracies has become increasingly varied, a trend reflected in the title of this volume: The Global Divergence of Democracies. The divergence in the quality or depth of democracy is matched by a parallel divergence in progress toward the consolidation of democracy. The second section of this volume is devoted to the hotly contested debate among leading scholars of comparative democracy of the utility and meaning of the concept of consolidation.

A third section examines some of the key building blocks of successful democracy, including political party systems, elections, federalism, the rule of law, a market economy, an independent judiciary, and civilian control of the military. The volume concludes with a series of appraisals of the divergent paths that democracy is taking both among and within various regions of the world, as well as in such key countries as Russia and China. With contributions by more than thirty of the world's leading scholars of democracy, this volume presents the most comprehensive assessment available of the state of democracy in the world at the beginning of the new millennium.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
416
ISBN
9780801868429
Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Democracy and Liberty: Universal Values?
1. Democracy as a Universal Value
2. Buddhism, Asian Values, and Democracy
3. Confucianism and Democracy
4. Muslims and

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. Democracy and Liberty: Universal Values?
1. Democracy as a Universal Value
2. Buddhism, Asian Values, and Democracy
3. Confucianism and Democracy
4. Muslims and Democracy
5. How Far Can Free Government Travel?
6. Democracy and Liberty: The Cultural Connection
7. From Liberalism to Liberal Democracy
Part II. Consolidating Democracy
8. Toward Consolidated Democracies
9. Illusions about Consolidation
10. O'Donnell's "Illusions": A Rejoinder
11. Illusions and Conceptual Flaws: A Response
12. What Is Democratic Consolidation?
Part III. Foundations of Successful Democracy
13. What Makes Democracies Endure?
14. Party Systems in the Third Wave
15. What Makes Elections Free and Fair?
16. Federalism and Democracy: Beyond the U.S. Model
17. Markets, Law, and Democracy
18. Free Politics and Free Markets in Latin America
19. A New Jurisprudence for Africa
20. How Democracies Control the Military
Part IV. Prospects and Challenges for Democracy in the New Century
21. A Quarter-Century of Declining Confidence
22. Latin America at the Century's Turn -
23. The Postcommunist Divide
24. Putin's Russia: One Step Forward Two Steps Back
25. Will China Democratize
26. Is Pakistan the (Reverse) Wave of the Future?
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Larry Diamond

Larry Diamond is coeditor of the Journal of Democracy, codirector of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.
Featured Contributor

Marc F. Plattner

Marc F. Plattner is vice president for research and studies at the National Endowment for Democracy. Plattner and Diamond are coeditors of the Journal of Democracy.