This volume analyzes the evolution of selected public policies and the changing roles and structure of the state in Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain since the 1960s. It makes a major contribution to work on recent democratic regime transition in southern Europe, demonstrating how the state has responded and adapted to the challenges and pressures associated with the overarching processes of democratization, socio-economic development, and Europeanization.

This is the first truly comparative study of the relationship between social movements and citizenship rights. Focusing on the experiences of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Spain, the authors employ sophisticated quantitative research methods to measure comparative variations between these two factors, analyzing their relationship both within and across national cases. They proceed to test the main connections made between movements and rights in both theory and history, evaluating these in the light of the experience of modern authoritarian regimes.

One of the most important political and ethical issues faced during a political transition from authoritarian or totalitarian to democratic rule is how to deal with legacies of repression. This book explores the important aspect of transitional politics, assessing how Portugal, Spain, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and Germany after reunification, Russia, the Southern Cone of Latin America and Central America, as well as South Africa, have confronted legacies of repression.

In recent years, and especially following the end of the cold war, democratization has become one of the most crucial issues on the international political scene. Here, highly respected scholars from around the world explore the role and importance of international relations in the democratic development of states in the Americas and Europe, combining theoretical approaches with a rich set of empirical case studies.

Divided into two parts, this highly informative work first contributes to the debate on democracy's preconditions, then explores the historical development of state structures. Its primary conclusion is that democracy is not the product of social and economic forces, yet, to a greater extent, it is the consequence of prevailing institutional conditions, i.e. the nature of the state. In the second section, Hadenius maintains that the differing modes of state have displayed a variable capacity for governance and economic development. Thus, the evolution of state structures has consequences...

This book assesses European Union policies aimed at encouraging democratization in East Asia and the Mediterranean, addressing theoretical debates over the international dimensions of political change and the EU's characteristics as an international actor. The factors driving and inhibiting European democracy promotion policies are explored, and the EU's distinctive "bottom-up" approach to political change is outlined. The book notes an evolution in European policies, while arguing that the EU has failed to develop a fully comprehensive and coherent democracy promotion strategy.

This volume on democratic accountability addresses one of the burning issues on the agenda of policy makers and citizens in contemporary Latin America: how democratic leaders in Latin America can improve accountability while simultaneously promoting governmental effectiveness. Written by well-known scholars from both Latin America and the United States, the volume enhances understanding of these key themes, which are central to the future of democracy in Latin America.

The 1990s represented a shift in the international development agenda in the direction of a greater emphasis on rights and democracy. This brought many positive changes in women's rights and political representation as well as in human rights more broadly. In much of the world, however, these advances were not matched by significant progress in the achievement of greater social justice. Rising income inequalities, coupled with widespread poverty in many countries, have been accompanied by record levels of crime and violence. Meanwhile the global shift in the consensus over the role of the...