The biggest contemporary challenge to democratic legitimacy gravitates around the crisis of democratic representation. To tackle this problem, a growing number of established and new democracies included direct democratic instruments in their constitutions, enabling citizens to have direct influence on democratic decision-making. However, there are many different empirical manifestations of direct democracy, and their diverse consequences for representative democracy remain an understudied topic. Let the People Rule? aims to fill this gap, analysing the multifaceted consequences of direct democracy on constitutional reforms and issues of independence, democratic accountability mechanisms, and political outcomes. Chapters apply different methodological approaches to study the consequences of direct democracy on democratic legitimacy. These range from single in-depth case studies, like the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, to cross-national comparative studies, such as the direct democratic experience within the European Union.

This edited volume presents the first comprehensive analysis of recall processes which have spread globally since the end of the Cold War, and which are now re-configuring the political dynamics of electoral democracy. Drawing on the expertise of country experts, the book provides a coherent and theoretically informed framework for mapping and evaluating this fast-evolving phenomenon. While the existing literature on the subject has so far focused on isolated single-country studies, the collection brings recall experiments to centre stage as it relates them to current crises in the traditional variants of representative democracy. It explains why the spread of recall innovations is set to continue, and to pass a threshold from inattention to urgent engagement. The authors further provide original insights into the rationale for recall, as well as guidance on minimising the accompanying risks.

Within subunits of a democratic federation, lasting political practices that restrict choice, limit debate, and exclude or distort democratic participation have been analyzed in recent scholarship as subnational authoritarianism. Once a critical number of citizens or regions band together in these practices, they can leverage illiberal efforts at the federal level. This timely, data-driven book compares federations that underwent transitions in the first, second, and third waves of democratization and offers a substantial expansion of the concept of subnational authoritarianism. The eleven expert political scientists featured in this text examine the nature and scope of subnational democratic variations within six large federations, including the United States, India, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Russia. Illiberal Practices makes the case that subnational units are more likely to operate by means of illiberal structures and practices than as fully authoritarian regimes. Detailed case studies examine uneven levels of citizenship in each federal system. These are distributed unequally across the different regions of the country and display semi-democratic or hybrid characteristics. Appropriate for scholars and students of democratization, authoritarianism, federalism, decentralization, and comparative politics, Illiberal Practices sheds light on the uneven extension of democracy within countries that have already democratized. Contributors: Jacqueline Behrend, Andre Borges, Julian Durazo Herrmann, Carlos Gervasoni, Edward L. Gibson, Desmond King, Inga A.-L. Saikkonen, Celina Souza, Maya Tudor, Laurence Whitehead, Adam Ziegfeld

Highly respected and international contributors examine the development of democratic government in Latin America and Europe, and the role that world politics play in shaping it in this revised

edition of a highly acclaimed volume.

This edited volume presents the first comprehensive analysis of recall processes which have spread globally since the end of the Cold War, and which are now re-configuring the political dynamics of electoral democracy. Drawing on the expertise of country experts, the book provides a coherent and theoretically informed framework for mapping and evaluating this fast-evolving phenomenon. While the existing literature on the subject has so far focused on isolated single-country studies, the collection brings recall experiments to centre stage as it relates them to current crises in the traditional variants of representative democracy. It explains why the spread of recall innovations is set to continue, and to pass a threshold from inattention to urgent engagement. The authors further provide original insights into the rationale for recall, as well as guidance on minimising the accompanying risks.

Political science scholars consider the four-volume work "Transitions from Authoritarian Rule" to be a foundational text for studying the process of democratization, specifically in those cases where an authoritarian regime is giving way to some form of democratic government. The most important of the four books is without a doubt the fourth volume, "Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies", also known as "the little green book." "Transitions from Authoritarian Rule" was the first book in any language to systematically compare the process of transition from authoritarianism across a broad range of countries. Political democracy is not the only possible outcome. Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead emphasize that it's not the revolution but the transition that is critical to the growth of a democratic state. This ground-breaking insight remains highly relevant as the ramifications of the Arab Spring continue to play out. This reissue features a new foreword by Cynthia J. Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Woodow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Abraham F. Lowenthal, founding director of the Latin American Program, who wrote the original volume's foreword.

This book is an abridgement and translation of Guillermo Lora's five-volume history. It deals with the strengthening and radicalisation of Bolivia's organised labour movement, which culminated in the drastic revolutionary changes of the 1950s. The first half offers a reinterpretation of Bolivian history in the century preceding the revolution, viewed from the perspective of the working class. The second half discusses in more detail the major political events and doctrinal issues of a period in which the author, as secretary of the Trotskyist Partido Obrero Revolucionario, himself frequently played an active part. Despite the radical upheaval that occurred in the fifties and the mobilisation of broad sectors of the population around such radical objectives as direct property seizures, union-nominated ministers and union, military and worker control, the labour movement was unable to maintain its conquests in the 1960s. The concluding chapters describe the period of renewed military repression and the continuing efforts of the labour movement to resist.

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. A great many states are undergoing an extraordinary and difficult transition to democracy. And that transition is deeply influenced by the new international context. In this first volume of a major new series, a range of highly respected scholars from around the world and several disciplines tackle 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, the book examines the development of democratic regimes in countries and regions as diverse as Brazil, Spain, Greece, the Caribbean, and East Central Europe. At the international level, the book considers the influence of US Foreign Policy, International political finance, the UN, European Union, as well as the wide range of international political influences on the development of democratic politics. Oxford Studies in Democratization;Series editor: Laurence Whitehead;Oxford Sutdies in Democratization is a series for scholars and studen

Democratization has swept the globe over the past generation, and analysts and policy makers have been struggling to keep up. Bookshelves have been filled with case studies and assessments of this kaleidoscope of experiences, and a related scholarly community has developed seeking to systematize all this material in accordance with well-defined schemas and causal models. But experience keeps wrong-footing the country analysts, so in this fresh interpretation the author goes back to foundational issues. He argues that democratization is best understood as a complex, long-term, dynamic, and open-ended process extending over generations. Standard models of causal explanation need to be supplemented by more interpretative approaches. Basic questions of citizen security, the nature of public accountability and the role of money as a source of political power need reconsideration. The delicate balance between monetary authority and democratic consent is also examined in the light of the financial crises that have afflicted so many new democracies. This book proposes a range of new perspectives on the complex linkages between democratization and state formation, on the logic of paired comparisons and comparisons between large regions of the world and on the relationship between democratic ideals and 'really existing' democratic outcomes. It aims to equip those caught up in democratization and democracy promotion with a more realistic understanding of the tensions and turbulence involved.

An array of internationally noted scholars examines the process of democratization in Southern Europe and Latin America. The authors provide new interpretations of both current and historical efforts of nations to end periods of authoritarian rule and to initiate transition to democracy, efforts that have met with widely varying degrees of success and failure. Extensive case studies of individual countries, a comparative overview, and a synthesis conclusions offer important insights for political scientists, students, and all concerned with the prospects for democracy. In Volume 3, despite the unique contexts of transitions in individual countries, significant points of comparison emerge - such as the influence of foreign nations and the role of agents outside the government. These analyses explore both intra- and interregional similarities and differences.

An array of internationally noted scholars examines the process of democratization in southern Europe and Latin America. They provide new interpretations of both current and historical efforts of nations to end periods of authoritarian rule and to initiate transition to democracy, efforts that have met with widely varying degrees of success and failure. Extensive case studies of individual countries, a comparative overview, and a synthesis conclusions offer important insights for political scientists, students, and all concerned with the prospects for democracy. The historical example of Italy after Mussolini as well as the more recent cases of Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey suggest factors that may make a transition relatively secure.

The biggest contemporary challenge to democratic legitimacy gravitates around the crisis of democratic representation. To tackle this problem, a growing number of established and new democracies included direct democratic instruments in their constitutions, enabling citizens to have direct influence on democratic decision-making. However, there are many different empirical manifestations of direct democracy, and their diverse consequences for representative democracy remain an understudied topic. Let the People Rule? aims to fill this gap, analysing the multifaceted consequences of direct democracy on constitutional reforms and issues of independence, democratic accountability mechanisms, and political outcomes. Chapters apply different methodological approaches to study the consequences of direct democracy on democratic legitimacy. These range from single in-depth case studies, like the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, to cross-national comparative studies, such as the direct democratic experience within the European Union.

Banking and finance are often studied as specialized domains, governed by their own esoteric rules and concepts, and best cordoned off from broader comparative, historical and political considerations. This book develops an alternative approach. It focuses on the recent, strikingly deviant, experience of Brazil but goes well beyond that single case. It assesses financial sector reform and the consolidation of legitimate monetary authority in an era of globalization and democratization, and advocates the adoption of a holistic and contextualized perspective. It explores the cumulative potential of an incremental 'statecrafting' approach, in contrast to recently fashionable technical 'fixes' such as the idea that central bank independence provides a reliable and universal remedy for all monetary ills.

An array of internationally noted scholars examines the process of democratization in southern Europe and Latin America. They provide new interpretations of both current and historical efforts of nations to end periods of authoritarian rule and to initiate transition to democracy, efforts that have met with widely varying degrees of success and failure. Extensive case studies of individual countries, a comparative overview, and a synthesis conclusions offer important insights for political scientists, students, and all concerned with the prospects for democracy.

Southern Europe

The historical example of Italy after Mussolini as well as the more recent cases of Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey suggest factors that may make a transition relatively secure.

Latin America

Democratization is perhaps the central issue in Latin American politics today. Case studies focus on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Comparative Perspectives

Despite the unique contexts of transitions in individual countries, significant points of comparison emerge -- such as the influence of foreign nations and the role of agents outside the government. These analyses explore both intra- and interregional similarities and differences.

Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies

Political democracy is not the only possible outcome of transitions from authoritarianism. Guillermo O'Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter draw out the implications of democracy as a goal and of the uncertainty inherent in transitional situations.