Until the late 1980s, there were very few democratically electedgovernments in the developing world. These areas were characterizedby a range of authoritarian regimes from military administrationsto one-party dictatorships. Over the past decade, however, thesituation has altered significantly and an increasing number ofdeveloping countries have made the transition to democracy. Forsome, this process of building and consolidating democracy has beenrelatively easy, while for others, it has proved more complex andharder to sustain.
In this important new textbook, Jeff Haynes seeks to explain whythese differences occur. Adopting a broadly comparative approach,he begins by examining the theories and practice of democratictransition and consolidation in the new democracies of Africa,Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Haynes argues persuasivelythat a country's ability to consolidate democracy depends not onlyon the interaction of structural and agency factors, but also on avariety of specific domestic and international concerns which mayhelp or hinder democratic progress. Using a wide range of casestudies to illustrate his argument, Haynes provides an accessibleand comprehensive analysis of the processes and problems ofdemocratic consolidation in developing nations.
This is an important textbook that will be invaluable tostudents in a variety of areas from politics and comparativepolitics to development studies and history.