Transitions and Consolidation of Democracy in Africa

Transitions and Consolidation of Democracy in Africa PDF Author: Samuel Ebow Quainoo
Publisher: Global Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9781586840402
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
What conditions motivate a transition to democracy? Can the dynamics of a transition influence its outcome? Under what circumstances has democracy been consolidated in Africa? This trilogy of questions has become necessary in light of the current democratic wave engulfing Africa and the rest of the world. In examining the conditions that initiate democratic transitions, this book investigates the circumstances under which democracy movements have operated between 1980 and 1990. It concludes that, contrary to dominant democratic theory, the transitions to democracy in Africa have occurred under declining levels of development. With regard to transitions, the book recognizes that they have their own dynamics. Two main types of transitions are discerned: top-down and bottom-up. The book argues that in spite of the restrictive nature of top-down transitions, they offer a better opportunity for democratic consolidation because of the consensus between elites of the pro-democracy regime and their counterparts in the authoritarian regime, a condition that is normally absent under bottom-up transitions. Finally, relying on the cases of consolidated democracies, the book derives an African democracy model. The model delineates five main conditions that facilitate democratic consolidation, including good leadership, relevant political institutions, external support, civic space, and a reasonable level of development. It cautions, however, that these are not sufficient conditions, nor are all of them necessary. Since countries have unique historical circumstances, specific countries will have to combine conditions in the model that are relevant to that society to consolidate its democracy. The right combination will depend on the specific needs of the individual country.

Transitions and Consolidation of Democracy in Africa

Transitions and Consolidation of Democracy in Africa PDF Author: Samuel Ebow Quainoo
Publisher: Global Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9781586840402
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
What conditions motivate a transition to democracy? Can the dynamics of a transition influence its outcome? Under what circumstances has democracy been consolidated in Africa? This trilogy of questions has become necessary in light of the current democratic wave engulfing Africa and the rest of the world. In examining the conditions that initiate democratic transitions, this book investigates the circumstances under which democracy movements have operated between 1980 and 1990. It concludes that, contrary to dominant democratic theory, the transitions to democracy in Africa have occurred under declining levels of development. With regard to transitions, the book recognizes that they have their own dynamics. Two main types of transitions are discerned: top-down and bottom-up. The book argues that in spite of the restrictive nature of top-down transitions, they offer a better opportunity for democratic consolidation because of the consensus between elites of the pro-democracy regime and their counterparts in the authoritarian regime, a condition that is normally absent under bottom-up transitions. Finally, relying on the cases of consolidated democracies, the book derives an African democracy model. The model delineates five main conditions that facilitate democratic consolidation, including good leadership, relevant political institutions, external support, civic space, and a reasonable level of development. It cautions, however, that these are not sufficient conditions, nor are all of them necessary. Since countries have unique historical circumstances, specific countries will have to combine conditions in the model that are relevant to that society to consolidate its democracy. The right combination will depend on the specific needs of the individual country.

Transitions to Democracy and Democratic Consolidation

Transitions to Democracy and Democratic Consolidation PDF Author: Scott Mainwaring
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description


Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation PDF Author: Juan J. Linz
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801851582
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 508

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Book Description
5. Actors and contexts

Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe

Elites and Democratic Consolidation in Latin America and Southern Europe PDF Author: John Higley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521424226
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
A distinguished group of scholars examine recent transitions to democracy and the prospects for democratic stability in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay. They also assess the role of elites in the longer-established democratic regimes in Columbia, Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico and Venezuela. The authors conclude that in independent states with long records of political instability and authoritarian rule, democratic consolidation requires the achievement of elite 'consensual unity' - that is, agreement among all politically important elites on the worth of existing democratic institutions and respect for democratic rules-of-the-game, coupled with increased 'structural integration' among those elites. Two processes by which consensual unity can be established are explored - elite settlement, the negotiating of compromises on basic disagreements, and elite convergence, a more subtle series of tactical decisions by rival elites which have cumulative effect, over perhaps a generation.

Transitions to Democracy

Transitions to Democracy PDF Author: Lisa Anderson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231502478
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
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.

Issues in Democratic Consolidation

Issues in Democratic Consolidation PDF Author: Scott Mainwaring
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
Since 1974 there has been an unprecedented wave of democratization in the world. This trend has been particularly extensive in South America. But the problems confronting these new democracies are staggering, and the prospects for building consolidated democratic regimes are far from uniformly good. Focusing primarily on recent South American cases, Issues in Democratic Consolidation examines some of the difficulties of constructing consolidated democracies and provides a critical examination of the major issues involved. A prominent theme running through this collection is that the transitions from authoritative rule to civilian government may be arrested by political, economic, and social constraints. The articles contain analyses of the varied modalities and complex processes related to the transitions. The first transition begins with the initial stirrings of crisis under authoritarian rule that generate some form of political opening and greater respect for basic civil rights, and ends with the establishment of a government elected in an open, competitive contest. The volume's primary focus, however, is on the second transition, which begins with the inauguration of a democratic government and ends-if all goes well-with the establishment of a consolidated democratic regime.

Democratic Transition and Consolidation in Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia

Democratic Transition and Consolidation in Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia PDF Author: Diane Ethier
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
The breakdown of authoritarian regimes in Greece, Spain and Portugal in the mid-70s was the beginning of a new cycle of democratization at the world scale. The 1980s have seen the emergence of formal, constitutional democracies in many countries, especially in Latin America and Southeast Asia. This book analyses in a comparative perspective the causes, the modalities and the prospects of these political changes in three regions: Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

Transitions to Democracy

Transitions to Democracy PDF Author: Geoffrey Pridham
Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Company
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 680

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Book Description
The phenomenon of transitions to liberal democracy has become a major concern for political scientists in recent decades. This text covers conceptual issues for regime change, theoretical and comparative interpretations of transition and authoritarian collapse, national case-studies of transition (divided into three area studies), the international context of transition, the move towards democratic consolidation, and the future of democratic transition studies.

Democratic Transition and Consolidation in Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia

Democratic Transition and Consolidation in Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia PDF Author: Diane Ethier
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 134911412X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
The breakdown of authoritarian regimes in Greece, Spain and Portugal in the mid-70s was the beginning of a new cycle of democratization at the world scale. The 1980s have seen the emergence of formal, constitutional democracies in many countries, especially in Latin America and Southeast Asia. This book analyses in a comparative perspective the causes, the modalities and the prospects of these political changes in three regions: Southern Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

The Politics of Democratic Consolidation

The Politics of Democratic Consolidation PDF Author: Richard Gunther
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801849824
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 546

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Book Description
With democracy on the rise worldwide, questions about "transition" are rapidly being replaced by questions about "consolidation." How can leaders provide for a stable democracy once a nation has made its initial commitment to the rule of law and to popularly edledted government? In The Politics of Democratic Consolidation, a distinguished group of internationally recognized scholars focus on four nations of Southern Europe—Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece—which have successfully consolidated their democratic regimes. Contributors: P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, Richard Gunther, Hans-Jürgen Puhle, Edward Malefakis, Juan J. Linz, Alfred Stepan, Felipe Agüero, Geoffrey Pridham, Sidney Tarrow, Leonardo Morlino, José R. Montero, Gianfranco Pasquino, and Philippe C. Schmitter.