Changes in the media landscape present new challenges for scholars interested in the relationship between the mass media and civil society. Notably, the explosion of the Internet in advanced industrial democracies and its more limited introduction in other types of regimes has provided new pathways for communication. This volume explores the nature of the Internet's impact on civil society, addressing the following central questions: * Is the Internet qualitativey different from the more traditional forms of the media? * Has the Internet demonstrated real potential to improve civil society...
Changes in the media landscape present new challenges for scholars interested in the relationship between the mass media and civil society. Notably, t...
The Internet is transforming political institutions and modes of political communication. It is also transforming relaitons between states and between citizens. Above all it provides opportunities to create new political communities. This book provides examples of how it is beginning to do so at the sub-state, state and international levels. Both established democracies, such as the US, the UK and Germany, as well as authoritarian regimes in Asia and Africa, are having to come to terms with it. But although it can be a force for increased democracy and for the spread of human rights...
The Internet is transforming political institutions and modes of political communication. It is also transforming relaitons between states and between...
This book provides an introduction to democratic theory and empirical research on democracy and democratization. The book first examines conceptions of democracy from the origins in ancient Greece to the present day, then tracks when and where modern democracy has developed. On this basis, the book reviews the major debates and schools of thought dealing with domestic and international causes and consequences of democratization. Based on a systematic distinction between minimalist and maximalist definitions of democracy, the book provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of existing...
This book provides an introduction to democratic theory and empirical research on democracy and democratization. The book first examines conceptions o...
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...
Democratic transitions have occurred in many countries in various regions across the globe, such as Southern Europe, Latin America, Africa, East an...
While there has been scholarship on democracy promotion, there is still little comparative and theoretically-based work on the protagonists of democracy promotion.
This book investigates the motives that drive democracy promotion in a comparative and theoretically oriented manner, exploring how democracy promoters deal with conflicting objectives and the factors that shape their behaviour. It also addresses the more policy-oriented debate on the contemporary challenges to democracy promotion. Empirically it focuses on the US and German policies towards three pairs of target countries:...
While there has been scholarship on democracy promotion, there is still little comparative and theoretically-based work on the protagonists of demo...
Many new democracies are characterized by majority dominance and ethnocentrism. Varying paths or transitions toward democracy create very different outcomes for how ethnic identities, communities and politics are recognized. This book illustrates the varied consequences of democratization, from ethnic violence, new forms of accommodation to improve minorities status, or sometimes only minor improvements to life for ethnic minorities.
The book treads a nuanced path between conflicting myths of democratization, illustrating that there are a variety of outcomes ranging from violence or...
Many new democracies are characterized by majority dominance and ethnocentrism. Varying paths or transitions toward democracy create very different...
Do political leaders determine whether a polity will receive a democratic future or not? Research and advocates of democracy agree on the significance of political elites for democratization, yet there is a need for a more specific understanding of their role. This book develops a theory of political leadership at the point of nascent statehood to explain the emergence of resilient democracies. It employs four diverse case studies to examine the role of leadership and democratic consolidation. In doing so, the book identifies certain capacities of political leaders at the critical moment of...
Do political leaders determine whether a polity will receive a democratic future or not? Research and advocates of democracy agree on the significance...
Although democracy promotion has become a popular term for policy makers and scholars, democratization is rarely a smooth or linear transition. While some countries quickly democratize, others lag behind despite a long period of democracy promotion activities. Furthermore, while democracy promotion itself has been widely studied, there is a paucity of literature available assessing the outcome or the impact of democracy promotion. This book investigates democracy promotion by the European Union and the United States of America, and seeks to uncover why intensive democracy promotion has...
Although democracy promotion has become a popular term for policy makers and scholars, democratization is rarely a smooth or linear transition. While ...
The establishment of democracy on both sides of the Atlantic has not been a smooth evolution towards an idealized presumed endpoint. Far from it, democratization has been marked by setbacks and victories, a process often referred to as 'contested democracy'. In view of recent mobilizations such as the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement, in which new technologies have played a key role, there is a need for a renewed analysis of the long-term evolution of US and UK political systems. Using new areas of research, this book argues that the ideals and the practices of Anglo-American democracy can...
The establishment of democracy on both sides of the Atlantic has not been a smooth evolution towards an idealized presumed endpoint. Far from it, demo...
In recent decades, the regions of Russia have taken different paths of regime transition. Despite the consolidation of an autocratic regime at national level and the centralization steered by Vladimir Putin's government, the variation across sub-national regimes persists.
Using an innovative theoretical framework, this book explores both causes and consequences of democratization in the regions of Russia. It is the first study in the field to systematically integrate structural and agency approaches in order to account for economic, social, historical and international causes of...
In recent decades, the regions of Russia have taken different paths of regime transition. Despite the consolidation of an autocratic regime at nati...
