Overview

What are the determinants of democratization? Do the factors that move countries toward democracy also help them refrain from backsliding toward autocracy? This book attempts to answer these questions through a combination of a statistical analysis of social, economic, and international determinants of regime change in 165 countries around the world in 1972–2006, and case study work on nine episodes of democratization occurring in Argentina, Bolivia, Hungary, Nepal, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, and Uruguay. The findings suggest that democracy is promoted by long-term structural forces such as economic prosperity, but also by peaceful popular uprisings and the institutional setup of authoritarian regimes. In the short-run, however, elite actors may play a key role, particularly through the importance of intra-regime splits. Jan Teorell argues that these results have important repercussions both for current theories of democratization and for the international community's effort in developing policies for democracy promotion.

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9780511762727

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Reviews

'The most systematic and comprehensive analysis of democracy's Third Wave, integrating case studies and large-N cross-national comparisons. A major contribution to the field of democratization.' John Gerring, Boston University 'Determinants of Democratization is one of the most empirically ambitious, sweeping, and important books that has been written on democratization. It is a must read for all scholars who work on democratic and authoritarian regimes.' Scott Mainwaring, University of Notre Dame

Author Information

Jan Teorell is Associate Professor of Political Science at Lund University. His most recent publications have appeared in Studies in Comparative International Development, the European Journal of Political Research, the Journal of Democracy, Governance, and Political Research Quarterly.

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