Democracy under Pressure

ISBN-13: 9783031091254 / Angielski / Miękka / 2023

Opis

This book identifies the main factors shaping the fortunes of democracy globally. Why do some democracies in the same region and presumably subject to similar global influences remain stable while others regress? This is the question guiding all the authors of this edited book. In the search for answers, they examine 16 democracies in paired and tripled comparisons in sub-Saharan Africa, North and Latin America, East Asia, Western and Central Europe, along with two polar cases. Insights from the perspectives of history, political science, economics and international relations are offered along with a sketch of possible future scenarios. Combining approaches anchored in the analytical tradition with empirical case studies and given the broad range of topics, this book is bound to be of interest not only to students and practitioners of democracy but also to the broader academic and general readership.

Spis treści

Part I. A New World

1. Quo Vadis Democracy? Editor's Introduction (Ursula van Beek)

2. From the End of History to the End of the World? Global Challenges to Democracy (Christer Jönsson)

3. Economic and Political Implications of Technological Advances (Krige Siebrits)

4. Back to the Future: The Rise of Nationalist Populism (Ursula van Beek)

Part II. Empirical Assessments

5. Global and Regional Developments at the Macro- and Micro-Levels (Ursula Hoffmann-Lange and Dirk Berg Schlosser)

Paired and Triple Comparisons

Sub-Saharan Africa

6. South Africa and Kenya (Cindy Steenekamp & Catherine Musuva)

North America

7. United States - Canada (Laurence Whitehead)

Latin America 

8. Argentina-Chile-Uruguay (Laurence Whitehead)

East Asia

9. South Korea-Taiwan - The Philippines (Dennis Weng)

Europe

10. Germany-Italy (Hans-Dieter Klingemann & Ebru Canan-Sokullu)

11. Poland-Estonia (Vello Pettai)

Polar Cases

12. Democratic Resilience in Sweden (Hans Agné and Tommy Müller)

13. Varieties of Turkish Democracy: A Progress in Reverse? (Ebru Canan-Sokullu)

14. Cross-Area Finding: Patterns and Prospects (Dirk Berg-Schlosser & Ursula Hoffmann-Lange)

15. Empirical Assessments: The Return of History (Hans-Dieter D. Klingemann, Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Ursula Hoffemann-Lange)

16. Looking Ahead: Democracy and Modernity (Pierre du Toit)

O autorze

Ursula van Beek is the founder Director of the former Transformation Research Unit (TRU) and its successor CREDO, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, at the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Blurb

“This book is essential reading. Against the backdrop of a 15-year democratic recession, the question of why some countries become more democratic while others see growing authoritarianism is one of the most pressing of our era. This inspired volume  cleverly  leverages a comparative  approach  to provide new insights into the sources of democratisation and backsliding, making an important and timely contribution.”

—Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham, UK

 “This book is a delightful guide and a remarkable must-read for all those concerned with the decline of liberal democracies. This new book by a group of scholars dealing with the topic for quite a time is both a follow-up to their past tales about democracies across cultures and continents and a brand-new approach to its contemporary problems. The theoretical arguments are backed by convincingly constructed comparative country case-studies. It is accessible and fascinating. This book will be widely read by students, social scientists, policymakers, and—I hope—politicians.”

—Radoslaw Markowski, Professor of Political Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland“

This book identifies the main factors shaping the fortunes of democracy globally. Why do some democracies in the same region and presumably subject to similar global influences remain stable while others regress? This is the question guiding all the authors of this edited book. In the search for answers, they examine 16 democracies in paired and tripled comparisons in sub-Saharan Africa, North and Latin America, East Asia, Western and Central Europe, along with two polar cases. Insights from the perspectives of history, political science, economics and international relations are offered along with a sketch of possible future scenarios. Combining approaches anchored in the analytical tradition with empirical case studies and given the broad range of topics, this book is bound to be of interest not only to students and practitioners of democracy but also to the broader academic and general readership.

​

Ursula van Beek is the founder Director of the former Transformation Research Unit (TRU) and its successor CREDO, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, at the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.