Constructing Democracy

This book explores the process by which constitutions and democratic institutions are constructed. Wing focuses on how innovative constitutional dialogues involving participation, negotiation, and recognition of groups previously excluded from political decision-making may be the key to a legitimate constitution.

Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions. Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy created new governments for each of its regions. After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity.

In this pathbreaking contribution to debates about human rights, democracy, and society, distinguished social scientists from Latin America and the United States move beyond questions of state terror, violence, and similar abuses to embrace broader concepts of human rights: citizenship, identity, civil society, racism, gender discrimination, and po

After more than a century of assorted dictatorships and innumerable fiscal crises, the majority of Latin America's states are governed today by constitutional democratic regimes. Some analysts and scholars argue that Latin America weathered the 2008 fiscal crisis much better than the United States. How did this happen? Jorge I. Domínguez and Michael Shifter asked area specialists to examine the electoral and governance factors that shed light on this transformation and the region's prospects. They gather their findings in the fourth edition of Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America. This new edition is completely updated. Part I is thematic, covering issues of media, constitutionalism, the commodities boom, and fiscal management vis-à-vis governance. Part II focuses on eight important countries in the region—Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. Already widely used in courses, Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America will continue to interest students of Latin American politics, democratization studies, and comparative politics as well as policymakers.

The book expounds on the role played by democracy in China's revolution and modernization led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), and how the CPC, in both its party building and state building, has constantly sought to leverage democracy's positive functions while avoiding its shortcomings.Special attention is paid to reconstructing and explaining the historical contexts from which the Party's theoretical innovations have emerged, thus offering readers insights into the inner political logic that has shaped China's development.The author, a member of the Party's senior policy panel, offers a perceptive analysis of the modernization of the country and its governing capacity, and provides a clear assessment of how democracy in China has developed with the times.Always bearing the big picture in mind, the author has not shied away from some of the more controversial parts of China's recent history, and his deep understanding of relevant Party documents and historical facts give strong support to his analyses. He concludes that that the Party is central to leading the nation to explore its path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and that the country has always emerged stronger after setbacks.

Building Democracy is a major contribution to the growing public debate about the revival of community values in the face of the self-evident short-comings of the free market, specifically in terms of community architecture. Providing a historical context and an authoritative account of a movement that is proving surprisingly extensive and enduring, the book also examines the relevance of the approach to today's social and environmental problems, particularly in the inner cities. Community architecture was promoted in the early 1980s as the achievement of a handful of pioneering architects finding new ways of working with groups of ordinary people, to help them develop their own homes and community facilities. Building Democracy records the achievements of this movement and analyzes its contribution in addressing the problems of inner cities. Beginning with the origins of the urban question in the industrialization of the 19th century, the book goes on to look at the large-scale urban redevelopment of the 1960s - the latest and most concerted attempt to remodel Victorian cities, and on to community action, from which grew new approaches to design, development and construction. This book is of practical value to planners, architects, surveyors and landscape designers concerned with socially relevant design, as students or professionals. It will also be of interest to many people in the voluntary sector and in local government.

DEMOCRACY UNDER STRESS focuses on the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and its implications for democracy. Why and how did the crisis come about? Are there any instructive lessons to be drawn from comparisons with the Great Depression of the 1930s? What are the democratic response mechanisms to cope with serious crises? Do they work? Is China a new trend setter? Do values matter? Are global democratic rules a possibility? These are some of the key questions addressed in the volume.

Why are some regimes democratic while others are not? Specifically, how have Spain and Italy managed to become democratic while Turkey, which shares many similar characteristics, has not? Spain, Italy and Turkey have shared common historical features which would have been disruptive to any new democracy; however they represent a wide array of democratization experiences. Providing a comparative case study analysis, this book offers some clues as to the reasons for successful transitions to democracy. This is done through a range of variables which include: the degree of ‘stateness’ problems learning from previous experiences with democracy and authoritarianism economic development the procedures used for designing the new rules of the regime the existence or absence of ‘civil society’ and the connection between society and political institutions the democratic rules themselves the professionalization of the military the influence of external factors on democratic consolidation. By examining these variables across the three countries, Lauren McLaren narrows the range of possible explanations for differences in democratic consolidation. The book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of European Politics and Democratization Studies.