Debating the Transition Paradigm
The Editors’ introduction to “Debating the Transition Paradigm.”
July 2002
Volume 13, Issue 3
Debating the Transition Paradigm
Debating the Transition Paradigm: In Partial Defense of an Evanescent “Paradigm”
The coauthor of the seminal work on democratic transitions sets the record straight on what the scholarly literature actually says.
Debating the Transition Paradigm: The Democratic Path
The notion of countries being on the “path to democracy” remains valid unless and until they come up with a systemic alternative to democracy.
Debating the Transition Paradigm: Retaining the Human Dimension
Democracy promotion is a cause-oriented mission, but a good deal of hard-headed realism goes into program planning and work.
Debating the Transition Paradigm: Tilting at Straw Men
A leading democracy specialist at the U.S. Agency for International Development defends his organization’s approach.
Debating the Transition Paradigm: A Reply to My Critics
The author of “The End of the Transition Paradigm” responds to each of his critics in turn.
The Balkans: Democracy Without Choices
The gravest challenges facing democracy in the Balkans are problems not of ethnicity or postcommunism, but of citizen disaffection and disillusionment.
Globalization and Self-Government
Until now, globalization and democratization have been mutually reinforcing, but in the future globalization may pose serious challenges for democracy.
Democracy in Real Time
Globalization has fostered the spread of “democracy as procedure,” but it is much less favorable to the spread of “democracy as culture.”
Nicaragua Votes: The Elections of 2001
The November elections were peaceful and competitive. For the third straight time, voters chose a conservative who embraced democratic liberties.
Middle East Studies After 9/11
Middle East Studies After 9/11
The Editors’ introduction to “Middle East Studies After 9/11.”
Middle East Studies After 9/11: Time for an Audit
Talk about the Middle East and those who study it has become understandably heated. But we can learn more through a calm assessment of the achievements and weaknesses of this field.
Middle East Studies After 9/11: Defending the Discipline
Is the field of Middle East studies as badly flawed as some critics charge? A fair-minded look at the last 10 or 15 years of research suggests otherwise.
Middle East Studies After 9/11: Islamists and the Politics of Consensus
Middle Eastern autocracies rely ever more on repression of both their Islamist and secular critics, and therefore increasingly fear that any opening will be uncontrollable. Is there a way out?
Middle East Studies After 9/11: An Exit from Arab Autocracy
While many experts recommend postponing democratization pending the rise of a middle class, a directly political strategy may well be better.
Africa: The Limits of Power-Sharing
Often recommended as a means of ending intractable civil wars, power-sharing may in fact be least likely to work when it is most needed.
Clans, Pacts, and Politics in Central Asia
This region’s five republics have just lived through a remarkable first decade of independence that raises questions about “preconditions”-based theories of democratization.
Cape Verde: An African Exception
The small, Portuguese-speaking island republic of Cape Verde offers a suggestive case study of successful democratic consolidation.
The Post-Soviet Puzzle
A review of Russia’s Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin, by Michael McFaul.
Thinking Big
A review of Arguing Comparative Politics by Alfred Stepan.
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Algeria, Bahamas, Burkina Faso, Chad, Colombia, the Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Hungary, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe.
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Sierra Leonean president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah’s inaugural address; the Democracy Coalition Project’s “Call to Action to Build Open Democratic Societies”; the Varela Project, a petition circulated by Cuban dissidents; East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao’s inaugural address.