The Challenge of Rural Democratisation

The Challenge of Rural Democratisation PDF Author: Jonathan Fox
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317845234
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
First published in 1990. The distribution of rural power in developing countries both shapes and is shaped by national politics. Focusing on Latin America and the Philippines, this volume addresses the question of why rural democratisation has proven to be so difficult across a wide range of national experiences.

The Challenge of Rural Democratisation

The Challenge of Rural Democratisation PDF Author: Jonathan Fox
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317845234
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 205

Get Book Here

Book Description
First published in 1990. The distribution of rural power in developing countries both shapes and is shaped by national politics. Focusing on Latin America and the Philippines, this volume addresses the question of why rural democratisation has proven to be so difficult across a wide range of national experiences.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia PDF Author: Bahru Zewde
Publisher: Nordic Africa Institute
ISBN: 9789171065018
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
Democracy is a concept reflecting European philosophies, struggles and concerns. Many Ethiopian ethnic groups have traditions which may offer more satisfactory and culturally acceptable foundations for a “sovereignty of the people” through time-honored ways of voicing political ideas, ironic observations and vital interests. In line with modern urban life Ethiopians also organize and express their interests in non-governmental organizations, the independent press and advocacy groups representing political and social alternatives. The contributors to this book analyze the democratic potential of these movements and practices, their ability to give a voice to the view from below and their potential contribution to a more genuine participation by the majority of Ethiopians in democratic decision making and bringing the sovereignty of the people a step closer to reality.

Inequality and Democratization

Inequality and Democratization PDF Author: Ben W. Ansell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316123286
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Research on the economic origins of democracy and dictatorship has shifted away from the impact of growth and turned toward the question of how different patterns of growth - equal or unequal - shape regime change. This book offers a new theory of the historical relationship between economic modernization and the emergence of democracy on a global scale, focusing on the effects of land and income inequality. Contrary to most mainstream arguments, Ben W. Ansell and David J. Samuels suggest that democracy is more likely to emerge when rising, yet politically disenfranchised, groups demand more influence because they have more to lose, rather than when threats of redistribution to elite interests are low.

Rural Democracy in China

Rural Democracy in China PDF Author: Baogang He
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
This book examines the status of village democracy, studies the achievements and the problems, explains its dynamics, and investigates the prospects of China's democratization. It challenges the skeptics with a nuanced assessment of village democracy in its variety and diversity. It develops an understanding of how three key factors - township, economy and kinship-- shape village democracy and account for the variations of rural democracy. The extension of village to township elections has been examined and an idea of mixed regime being formulated with an examination of its key features and implications for our understanding of political development in China.

Rural Protest and the Making of Democracy in Mexico, 1968–2000

Rural Protest and the Making of Democracy in Mexico, 1968–2000 PDF Author: Dolores Trevizo
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271076143
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
When the PRI fell from power in the elections of 2000, scholars looked for an explanation. Some focused on international pressures, while others pointed to recent electoral reforms. In contrast, Dolores Trevizo argues that a more complete explanation takes much earlier democratizing changes in civil society into account. Her book explores how largely rural protest movements laid the groundwork for liberalization of the electoral arena and the consolidation of support for two opposition parties, the PAN on the right and the PRD on the left, that eventually mounted a serious challenge to the PRI. She shows how youth radicalized by the 1968 showdown between the state and students in Mexico City joined forces with peasant militants in nonviolent rural protest to help bring about needed reform in the political system. In response to this political effervescence in the countryside, agribusinessmen organized in peak associations that functioned like a radical social movement. Their countermovement formulated the ideology of neoliberalism, and they were ultimately successful in mobilizing support for the PAN. Together, social movements and the opposition parties nurtured by them contributed to Mexico’s transformation from a one-party state into a real electoral democracy nearly a hundred years after the Revolution.

Democratization in Africa: Challenges and Prospects

Democratization in Africa: Challenges and Prospects PDF Author: Gordon Crawford
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113570628X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
It is two decades since the ‘third wave’ of democratization began to roll across sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1990s. This book provides a very timely investigation into the progress and setbacks over that period, the challenges that remain and the prospects for future democratization in Africa. It commences with an overall assessment of the (lack of) progress made from 1990 to 2010, exploring positive developments with reasons for caution. Based on original research, subsequent contributions examine various themes through country case-studies, inclusive of: the routinisation of elections, accompanied by democratic rollback and the rise of hybrid regimes; the tenacity of presidential powers; the dilemmas of power-sharing; ethnic voting and rise of a violent politics of belonging; the role of ‘donors’ and the ambiguities of ‘democracy promotion’. Overall, the book concludes that steps forward remain greater than reversals and that typically, though not universally, sub-Saharan African countries are more democratic today than in the late 1980s. Nonetheless, the book also calls for more meaningful processes of democratization that aim not only at securing civil and political rights, but also socio-economic rights and the physical security of African citizens. This book was originally published as a special issue of Democratization

Democracy Compromised

Democracy Compromised PDF Author: Lungisile Ntsebeza
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047407903
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
This book argues that the promulgation of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework and Communal Land Rights Acts runs the risk of compromising South Africa's democracy. The acts establish traditional councils with land administration powers. These structures are dominated by unelected members.

The Regional Dimension of the European Union

The Regional Dimension of the European Union PDF Author: Charlie Jeffery
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136311009
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 170

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Book Description
Decision-making within the EU has moved to a third (regional) level of government emerging in the EU policy process alongside the first (Union) and second (member state) levels. Multi-level governance can increasingly be identified. These papers describe and analyse this third level.

Why Cities Lose

Why Cities Lose PDF Author: Jonathan A. Rodden
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 1541644255
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
A prizewinning political scientist traces the origins of urban-rural political conflict and shows how geography shapes elections in America and beyond Why is it so much easier for the Democratic Party to win the national popular vote than to build and maintain a majority in Congress? Why can Democrats sweep statewide offices in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan yet fail to take control of the same states' legislatures? Many place exclusive blame on partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression. But as political scientist Jonathan A. Rodden demonstrates in Why Cities Lose, the left's electoral challenges have deeper roots in economic and political geography. In the late nineteenth century, support for the left began to cluster in cities among the industrial working class. Today, left-wing parties have become coalitions of diverse urban interest groups, from racial minorities to the creative class. These parties win big in urban districts but struggle to capture the suburban and rural seats necessary for legislative majorities. A bold new interpretation of today's urban-rural political conflict, Why Cities Lose also points to electoral reforms that could address the left's under-representation while reducing urban-rural polarization.

Democracy and the Left

Democracy and the Left PDF Author: Evelyne Huber
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226356558
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
Although inequality in Latin America ranks among the worst in the world, it has notably declined over the last decade, offset by improvements in health care and education, enhanced programs for social assistance, and increases in the minimum wage. In Democracy and the Left, Evelyne Huber and John D. Stephens argue that the resurgence of democracy in Latin America is key to this change. In addition to directly affecting public policy, democratic institutions enable left-leaning political parties to emerge, significantly influencing the allocation of social spending on poverty and inequality. But while democracy is an important determinant of redistributive change, it is by no means the only factor. Drawing on a wealth of data, Huber and Stephens present quantitative analyses of eighteen countries and comparative historical analyses of the five most advanced social policy regimes in Latin America, showing how international power structures have influenced the direction of their social policy. They augment these analyses by comparing them to the development of social policy in democratic Portugal and Spain. The most ambitious examination of the development of social policy in Latin America to date, Democracy and the Left shows that inequality is far from intractable—a finding with crucial policy implications worldwide.