Since their classic volume The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes was published in 1978, Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan have increasingly focused on the questions of how, in the modern world, nondemocratic regimes can be eroded and democratic regimes crafted. In Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, they break new ground in numerous areas. They reconceptualize the major types of modern nondemocratic regimes and point out for each type the available paths to democratic transition and the tasks of democratic consolidation. They argue that, although "nation-state" and "democracy" often have conflicting logics, multiple and complementary political identities are feasible under a common roof of state-guaranteed rights. They also illustrate how, without an effective state, there can be neither effective citizenship nor successful privatization. Further, they provide criteria and evidence for politicians and scholars alike to distinguish between democratic consolidation and pseudo-democratization, and they present conceptually driven survey data for the fourteen countries studied.

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation contains the first systematic comparative analysis of the process of democratic consolidation in southern Europe and the southern cone of South America, and it is the first book to ground post-Communist Europe within the literature of comparative politics and democratic theory.

"This is an important volume by two major scholars on a central topic -- one of broad interest to people in comparative politics, to those interested in democracy, and to regional specialists on Southern Latin America and on Central and Eastern Europe. The book willunquestionably be a major contribution to the literature on constructing democratic governance." -- Abraham F. Lowenthal, University of Southern California

Between States is a two-part study compiled in one book. It is the first book to assess systematically the broad implications of interim governments in the establishment of democratic regimes and on the existence of states. Drawing on historical and contemporary democratization experiences, Shain and Linz, the principal authors, explore four ideal types of interim government: opposition-led provisional governments, power-sharing interim governments, incumbent-led caretaker governments, and international interim government by the United Nations. In the second part of this book, other contributors evaluate the subject further in extensive case studies.

Political wisdom holds that the political boundaries of a state necessarily coincide with a nation's perceived cultural boundaries. Today, the sociocultural diversity of many polities renders this understanding obsolete. This volume provides the framework for the state-nation, a new paradigm that addresses the need within democratic nations to accommodate distinct ethnic and cultural groups within a country while maintaining national political coherence.

First introduced briefly in 1996 by Alfred Stepan and Juan J. Linz, the state-nation is a country with significant multicultural--even multinational--components that engenders strong identification and loyalty from its citizens. Here, Indian political scholar Yogendra Yadav joins Stepan and Linz to outline and develop the concept further. The core of the book documents how state-nation policies have helped craft multiple but complementary identities in India in contrast to nation-state policies in Sri Lanka, which contributed to polarized and warring identities. The authors support their argument with the results of some of the largest and most original surveys ever designed and employed for comparative political research. They include a chapter discussing why the U.S. constitutional model, often seen as the preferred template for all the world's federations, would have been particularly inappropriate for crafting democracy in politically robust multinational countries such as India or Spain. To expand the repertoire of how even unitary states can respond to territorially concentrated minorities with some secessionist desires, the authors develop a revised theory of federacy and show how such a formula helped craft the recent peace agreement in Aceh, Indonesia.

Empirically thorough and conceptually clear, "Crafting State-Nations" will have a substantial impact on the study of comparative political institutions and the conception and understanding of nationalism and democracy.

The fate of democratic governments throughout the world is a topic of growing concern. The crises of modern history, from the Machtegreifung by Hitler through the downfall of the Allende government in Chile, have caused many to suspect an inevitable downfall of democracies. In a systematic review of the political experiences of Latin American and European democratic nations, these original, thought-provoking books propose a significant new comparative framework for understanding the dynamics of political change and the conditions necessary for democratic stability.

Sultanistic regimes, as Juan Linz describes them, are authoritarian regimes based on personal ideology and personal favor to maintain the autocrat in power; there is little ideological basis for the rule except personal power. This volume of essays studies important sultantistic regimes in the Domanican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Iran, and the Philippines. Part one contains two comparative essays, which discuss common characteristics of sultanistic regimes, compare them to totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, and trace common patterns for these regimes' rise and fall. Chehabi and Linz argue that sultanistic regimes do not offer favorable transitions to democracy, no matter what the person in power says. Part two applies Linz's model to country studies.

The fate of democratic governments throughout the world is a topic of growing concern. The crises of modern history, from the Machtergreifung by Hitler through the downfall of democracies. In a systematic review of the political experiences of Latin American and European democratic nations, these original, thought-provoking books propose a significant new comparative framework for understanding the dynamics of political change and the conditions necessary for democratic stability.

INDICE: 1. La politica de partidos y la crisis del presidencialismo en Chile: una propuesta para una forma parlamentaria de gobierno, por Arturo Valenzuela.- 2. Presidencialismo y estabilidad democratica en Uruguay, por Luis Eduardo Gonzalez y Charles Guy Gillespie.- 3. Brasil: hacia el parlamentarismo?, por Bolivar Lamounier.- 4. El presidencialismo y la politica colombiana, por Jonathan Hartlyn.- 5. Partidos debiles, politicos « indecisos y tension institucional: el presidencialismo en Ecuador, 1979-1988, por Catherine M. Conaghan.- 6. Presidentes, mesias y crisis constitucionales en Peru, por Cynthia McClintock.- 7. Venezuela: democratica a pesar del presidencialismo, por Michael Coppedge. Indice analitico.

"With a superb cast of contributors and a well-chosen sample of countries, "The Failure of Presidential Democracy" treats a central issue in the world today, as more and more countries try to construct durable democracies. It also reflects the new emphasis in political science on institutions, an area that has been sorely neglected in Latin American studies. Indeed, the book fills a huge informational and analytical gap on institutional arrangements in Latin American political systems. This is a stimulating, thoughtful, and relevant book--well suited to classroom use in courses on comparative politics and Latin American politics."--Paul W. Drake, University of California, San Diego.

"Complete Edition."

Despite worldwide interest in the Portuguese Revolution of 1974, Portugal remained for most people a little known and poorly understood country, neglected for years by social scientists. Editors Graham and Makler brought together for the first time in one substantive volume most of the leading social science experts on Portugal. The contributors' highly original research represents the best work generated by the International Conference Group on Modern Portugal at its two major conferences held in 1973 and 1976. The result is a comprehensive collection of essays discussing in detail the events leading up to the revolution, the causes of the military coup, and the movement of a society on the brink of revolutionary upheaval toward open, democratic parliamentary elections. As the first interdisciplinary study to span fifty years of Portuguese history from the Estado Novo of 1926 to the eventual social democratic republic, this book stands alone in its field. The specialist as well as the general reader will find insights into the dynamics of Portugal's people, politics, and economics.