April 2000

Volume 11, Issue 2

Trouble in the Advanced Democracies?

Latin America at the Century’s Turn

Recent disappointments have led to excessive pessimism about Latin America’s economic and democratic prospects. International recognition of the region’s diversity and a sense of perspective about its setbacks will improve its chances for further success.

Chile's Elections

Eastern Europe: The International Context

Nowhere else has the impact of international factors on democratization been as apparent as in Central and Eastern Europe. Integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures is one particularly strong democratizing force.

The Politics of the Asian Financial Crisis

The political dimensions of the 1997-99 Asian financial crisis have been largely ignored. Yet political factors are crucial to understanding the crisis and the differing ways in which the democracies and authoritarian regimes in the region responded to it.

Women in East European Parliaments

A major question in the consolidation of Eastern Europe’s new democracies is whether women will participate fully in the political process. One key indicator is the representation of women in the region’s parliaments.

Pushing for Press Freedom in Liberia

Since its establishment in 1964, the Press Union of Liberia has championed the right of journalists to report freely on events in Liberia and abroad. Political setbacks continue to put it to the test.

Election Watch

Reports on elections in Chile, Croatia, Dominica, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Russia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s farewell remarks and remarks by his successor, Vladimir Putin; a summary of Chechen foreign minister Ilyas Ahmadov’s remarks at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute; a speech by East Timorese independence leader Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão; a victory speech by Chilean president Ricardo Lagos; a speech by Argentinian president Fernando de…