Kategoria BISAC: Political Science >> World - General

This empirically grounded collection examines the growth of participatory institutions in Latin American democracy and how such institutions affect representative government. While most existing literature concentrates on model cases of participatory budgeting in Brazil, this volume investigates cases in Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina, where conditions for innovation have been far less favorable. The contributors, while recognizing the important differences and potential clashes between participatory and representative forms of democracy, ultimately favor participation,...

Just what exactly will follow the American century? This is the question Randall L. Schweller explores in his provocative assessment of international politics in the twenty-first century.

Schweller considers the future of world politics, correlating our reliance on technology and our multitasking, distracted, disorganized lives with a fragmenting world order. He combines the Greek myth of the Golden Apple of Discord, which explains the start of the Trojan War, with a look at the second law of thermodynamics, or entropy.

-In the coming age, - Schweller writes, -disorder will...

Africa has witnessed a number of transitions to democracy in recent years. Coinciding with this upsurge in democratic transitions have been spectacular experiences of social disintegration.

An alternative to discourses of the "failed" and "collapsed" state in Africa is an approach that takes seriously the complex historical processes underlying the political development of individual nation states. The chapters in this volume throw light on the ways in which violence, political culture, and development have interacted in recent African history.

Since the mid-1970s, Islamist groups have been important opposition forces in the Arab world and have posed a considerable challenge to regimes. However, their increased influence has not led to political power. Ibrahim A. Karawan argues that Islamist movements have been unable to form an effective and united opposition, and have therefore reached an impasse. Although regimes cannot afford to ignore their Islamist challengers, the Arab world is unlikely to witness a wave of Islamist take-overs. More than 17 years after the fall of the Shah, the Iranian revolution remains an isolated case...

The contributors come from a range of backgrounds, but meet one imperative qualification: residence or repeated physical presence in South Africa. By bringing together this notable collection of authors, Kitchen impresses upon readers (especially Americans) that the South Africa that will emerge from today's strife will be determined primarily by internal factors. As this volume notes, recent evidence suggests that externally devised initiatives such as Eminent Persons interlocutors, constructive engagement, disinvestment, and economic sanctions can affect but not mandate how or whether...