Download or read book Presidentialism Violence and the Prospect of Democracy written by Yao-Yuan Yeh and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-02-15 with total page 135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presidentialism, Violence, and the Prospect of Democracy tackles the perennial debate about whether presidentialism is associated with democratic breakdown. Yao-Yuan Yeh and Charles K. S. Wu integrate both institutional and behavioral arguments to discuss how institutional rigidity in changing executive power would stimulate citizens to adopt relatively violent means to address their grievances, leading to democratic crises. This book finds presidential democracies are more likely to encounter crises than either parliamentary or semi-presidential systems. However, once a crisis occurs, presidentialism does not trigger a higher likelihood of a breakdown. The conventional wisdom is thus only half correct.
Download or read book Democracy in Africa written by Nic Cheeseman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first comprehensive overview of the history of democracy in Africa and explains why the continent's democratic experiments have so often failed, as well as how they could succeed. Nic Cheeseman grapples with some of the most important questions facing Africa and democracy today, including whether international actors should try and promote democracy abroad, how to design political systems that manage ethnic diversity, and why democratic governments often make bad policy decisions. Beginning in the colonial period with the introduction of multi-party elections and ending in 2013 with the collapse of democracy in Mali and South Sudan, the book describes the rise of authoritarian states in the 1970s; the attempts of trade unions and some religious groups to check the abuse of power in the 1980s; the remarkable return of multiparty politics in the 1990s; and finally, the tragic tendency for elections to exacerbate corruption and violence.
Download or read book Presidentialism Parliamentarism and Democracy written by Jose Antonio Cheibub and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book questions the reasons why presidential democracies more likely to break down than parliamentary ones.
Download or read book Prospects of Democracy written by Tatu Vanhanen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-11-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the most extensive comparative survey of the state and conditions of democracy ever made. It focuses on 172 contemporary states, with historical data on the measures of democracy and on explanatory variables extending back to the 1850s. It presents a comprehensive exploration of democratization, its successes and failures, making predictions on the prospects for democracy for single countries and for seven regions of the world. As well as presenting empirical analyses of democratization on the basis of Vanhanens's resource distribution theory of democratization and making predictions on the prospects, the book includes contributions from five commentators, Mitchell A. Seligson on Latin America, Samuel Decalo and John W. Forje on Africa, John Henderson on Oceania and Ilter Turan on why some of the countires that pass Vanhanen's democratic threshold cannot in fact be seen as democracies. The volume also includes an introductory chapter which examines and compares other theoretical interpretations of democratization. Prospects for Democracy will be essential reading for all serious students of comparative politics and democracy.
Download or read book The Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution written by Ganesh Sitaraman and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2017-03-14 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this original, provocative contribution to the debate over economic inequality, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that a strong and sizable middle class is a prerequisite for America’s constitutional system. A New York Times Notable Book of 2017 For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable—and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America’s republic. Over the next two centuries, generations of Americans fought to sustain the economic preconditions for our constitutional system. But today, with economic and political inequality on the rise, Sitaraman says Americans face a choice: Will we accept rising economic inequality and risk oligarchy or will we rebuild the middle class and reclaim our republic? The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution is a tour de force of history, philosophy, law, and politics. It makes a compelling case that inequality is more than just a moral or economic problem; it threatens the very core of our constitutional system.
Download or read book Fragile Democracies written by Samuel Issacharoff and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-17 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how constitutional courts can support weak democratic states in the wake of societal division and authoritarian regimes.
Download or read book Populism Democracy and the Humanities written by Iulian Cananau and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-03-02 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this volume reflect on the phenomenon and concept of populism in relation to democracy and the humanities from the vantage points of various disciplinary backgrounds: philosophy, history of ideas, media and communication, journalism, political science, gender studies, organization science, education theory, popular culture, and literary studies. While the study of populism seems to have become a subfield within political science, this topic has been rarely explored by scholars in the humanities. Rather than contribute to the already established area of populism studies in social and political sciences, our authors take a more open and exploratory stance through which they attempt to open up new fields and directions for inquiry from an interdisciplinary humanistic perspective. Struggling with problems of relevance, impact, and visibility, the humanities have a special responsibility to address this topic, not only because it is relevant for their multidisciplinary scope, but also because the humanities stand for the values of thoughtfulness, in-depth reflection, critical thinking, weighty and thorough analysis. The humanities’ very existence constitutes a guaranty against what is often described as populism.
Download or read book Governance for Peace written by David Cortright and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-21 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An evidence-based analysis of governance focusing on the institutional capacities and qualities that reduce the risk of armed conflict.
Download or read book Challenges to Democratic Participation written by Andre Santos Campos and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-04-02 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book gathers a series of studies by scholars who have dedicated these last few years to research in the field of participatory democracy. Their purpose is precisely to engage in a theoretical discussion about the value of participatory democracy in the 21st century. Part I deals with the challenge of antipolitics. This is one of the greatest challenges faced by contemporary democratic theory: How can it be possible to take into account in political decision-making processes those whose voices issue disagreement with the available alternatives in the exact same political decision-making processes, without simply excluding them provisionally from democratic participation? Part II focuses on challenges to deliberative systems. Deliberative democracy is probably the most important alternative conception of democracy in today’s available literature on the topic, insofar as it responds to a sort of general uneasiness with mere preference aggregation by majoritarian voting, and instead seeks to incorporate the vast spectrum of heterogeneous interests in modern societies in the search for mutually acceptable policies. However, it is also subject to specific theoretical challenges that must be overcome if it is to be taken seriously as a viable alternative for providing better conditions of political participation. Part II deals with some of those challenges, even if in a sympathetic attitude towards deliberative decision-making. Finally, Part III approaches pluralism and cultural diversity in a shared public space. Its main challenge consists in promoting an idea of active citizenship that can meet the demands of a world increasingly defined by the processes of globalization. Ultimately, that is what will end up combining a valid notion of active citizenship with effective decision-making procedures in pluralistic democracies. More than a simple summary of research, Challenges to Democratic Participation is designed to be accessible and useful to a wide variety of audiences, from scholars and practitioners working in numerous disciplines and fields, to activists and average citizens who are interested in seeking a theoretical groundwork for democratic practices; it also intends to enhance current scholarship, serving as a guide to existing research and identifying useful future research.
Download or read book Electoral Process and the Prospects for Democracy Consolidation written by Korwa Gombe Adar and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Any study of Africa's multiparty elections reveals inherent institutional and systemic difficulties that raise questions about the electoral outcomes in the emerging democracies. An assessment of electoral processes in Africa poses methodological, conceptual, and theoretical challenges to scholars and practitioners. The chapters of this volume address these issues through an assessment of the electoral processes and an examination of democratisation trends in Africa, with special focus on case studies. The chapters on Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa analyse these complexities holistically. They examine: the potency and independence of electoral institutions; adherence to electoral laws by those charged with the statutory powers as well as the participants in the elections; the role of the media, election monitors and observers, civil society, and political parties. The authors also assess whether or not elections were conducted in a free and fair environment conducive for multiparty electoral practice and consolidation.
Download or read book Prospects for Democracy in Nigeria written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on International Relations and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Social Media and Democracy written by Nathaniel Persily and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-03 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A state-of-the-art account of what we know and do not know about the effects of digital technology on democracy.
Download or read book Democratization in Africa Challenges and Prospects written by Gordon Crawford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book U S Policy Human Rights and the Prospects for Democracy in Chile written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Prospects for Democracy in Mexico written by George W. Grayson and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Second only to the Soviet Union, Mexico is the country most important to the security and well-being of the United States. Its stability is therefore a major concern. As Prospects for Democracy in Mexico documents, there are problems. This ancient Aztec nation now suffers the worst economic conditions since its revolution exploded in 1910. The economy has been as flat as a tortilla since the oil boom fizzled in the early 1980s, and the purchasing power of workers has declined 50 percent in recent years. Open and disguised unemployment afflicts nearly half of the 26-million-member workforce. External debt keeps upward pressure on interest rates, while the government and private sector must meet $12 billion annually in foreign-debt payments. Widespread pollution continues to contaminate the already fetid air of metropolitan areas such as Mexico City. Similar conditions in the United States or Western Europe would ignite demonstrations, catalyze strikes, and launch the careers of demagogic politicians. Mexico remains remarkably quiet-with discontent channeled though legitimate institutions such as the Congress, mass media, and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). This volume dissects the current situation and forecasts future developments. Diplomats, scholars, public officials, and businessmen contribute sixteen chapters and answer a number of the most critical questions. It is unlikely that this collection will be surpassed for comprehensive coverage and intellectual balance for years to come. It is supported by in-depth statistical tables covering every phase of Mexican life: from unemployment, religious affiliation, inflation rates, presidential electoral results, military expenditures, and the size of the armed forces. In addition, the volume concludes with a selected biography that Latin Americanists, political scientists, and policy-makers will find essential. George W. Grayson is the Class of 1938 Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. His books include The Mexican Labor Machine: Power, Politics, and Patronage (1989); Oil and Mexican Foreign Policy (1988); The United States and Mexico; Patterns of Influence (1984); and The Politics of Mexican Oil (1980)
Download or read book Examining Prospects for Democratic Reform and Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on African Affairs and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Democratic Transitions written by Sujian Guo and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-04-03 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Democratic transitions have occurred in many countries in various regions across the globe, such as Southern Europe, Latin America, Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and these nations have undergone simuntaneously political, economic and social transformations. Yet, the patterns and characteristics of transitions have varied significantly, and different modes of transition have resulted in different outcomes. This book offers cross-national comparisons of democratic transition since the turn of the twentieth century and asks what makes democracies succeed or fail. In doing so it explores the influence the mode of transition has on the longevity or durability of the democracy, by theoretically examining and quantitatively testing this relationship. The authors argue that the mode of transition directly impacts the success and failure of democracy, and suggest that cooperative transitions, where opposition groups work together with incumbent elites to peacefully transition the state, result in democracies that last longer and are associated with higher measures of democratic quality. Based on a cross-national dataset of all democratic transitioning states since 1900, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international politics, comparative politics and democracy, and democratization studies.
