Highway To Democr Cy

From the former secretary of state and bestselling author -- a sweeping look at the global struggle for democracy and why America must continue to support the cause of human freedom. "This heartfelt and at times very moving book shows why democracy proponents are so committed to their work...Both supporters and skeptics of democracy promotion will come away from this book wiser and better informed." -- The New York Times From the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the ongoing struggle for human rights in the Middle East, Condoleezza Rice has served on the front lines of history. As a child, she was an eyewitness to a third awakening of freedom, when her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, became the epicenter of the civil rights movement for black Americans. In this book, Rice explains what these epochal events teach us about democracy. At a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, Rice shares insights from her experiences as a policymaker, scholar, and citizen, in order to put democracy's challenges into perspective. When the United States was founded, it was the only attempt at self-government in the world. Today more than half of all countries qualify as democracies, and in the long run that number will continue to grow. Yet nothing worthwhile ever comes easily. Using America's long struggle as a template, Rice draws lessons for democracy around the world -- from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, to Kenya, Colombia, and the Middle East. She finds that no transitions to democracy are the same because every country starts in a different place. Pathways diverge and sometimes circle backward. Time frames for success vary dramatically, and countries often suffer false starts before getting it right. But, Rice argues, that does not mean they should not try. While the ideal conditions for democracy are well known in academia, they never exist in the real world. The question is not how to create perfect circumstances but how to move forward under difficult ones. These same insights apply in overcoming the challenges faced by governments today. The pursuit of democracy is a continuing struggle shared by people around the world, whether they are opposing authoritarian regimes, establishing new democratic institutions, or reforming mature democracies to better live up to their ideals. The work of securing it is never finished. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A famous Iranian dissident calls for universal human rights and democracy based on our common humanity. Akbar Ganji, called by some “Iran's most famous dissident,” was a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But, troubled by the regime's repressive nature, he became an investigative journalist in the 1990s, writing for Iran's pro-democracy newspapers. Most notably, he traced the murders of dissident intellectuals to Iran's secret service. In 2000, Ganji was arrested, sentenced to six years in prison, and banned from working as a journalist. His eighty-day hunger strike during his last year in prison mobilized the international human rights community.The Road to Democracy in Iran, Ganji's first book in English, demonstrates his lifelong commitment to human rights and democracy. A passionate call for universal human rights and the right to democracy from a Muslim perspective, it lays out the goals and means of Iran's democracy movement, why women's rights trump some interpretations of Islamic law, and how the West can help promote democracy in Iran (he strongly opposes U.S. intervention) and other Islamic countries. Throughout the book Ganji argues consistently for universal rights based on our common humanity (and he believes the world's religions support that idea). But his arguments never veer into abstraction; they are rooted deeply in the realities of life in Islamic countries, and offer a clear picture of the possibilities for and obstacles to improving human rights and promoting democracy in the Muslim world. Since his release from prison in March 2006, Akbar Ganji has been traveling outside Iran, meeting with intellectuals and activists in the international human rights community. He is currently living in the United States.

For two decades bestselling author Ruchir Sharma has chased election campaigns across every major state in India, travelling the equivalent of a lap around the Earth. Democracy in India takes readers on a rollicking ride with Ruchir and his band of highly-informed fellow writers as they talk to farmers, shopkeepers and CEOs from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu, and to interview leaders from Narendra Modi to Rahul Gandhi. No other book takes readers has taken readers so close to the action, or traced the arc of modern Indian politics so immediately. Offering an intimate view inside the lives and minds of India's political giants and its people, Sharma explains how the complex forces of family, caste and community, economics and development, money and corruption, Bollywood and Godmen, have conspired to elect and topple Indian leaders since Indira Gandhi.

v. 3: The third volume in the series examines the role of anti-apartheid movements around the world. The global anti-apartheid movement was very successful in creating awareness of the liberation struggle in South Africa, and in contributing to the downfall of the apartheid government. This volume, in 2 parts, brings together analyses which in the main are written by activist scholars with deep roots in the movements and organizations they are writing about.

v. 3: The third volume in the series examines the role of anti-apartheid movements around the world. The global anti-apartheid movement was very successful in creating awareness of the liberation struggle in South Africa, and in contributing to the downfall of the apartheid government. This volume, in 2 parts, brings together analyses which in the main are written by activist scholars with deep roots in the movements and organizations they are writing about.

The late Daniel J. Elazar was increasingly concerned with the distortions of democracy in contemporary society. In Commonwealth, he brought together a distinguished group of political scientists to examine the Swiss model of democracy, in its original emphasis on community, or the "commonwealth." Contributors to the volume take the Swiss model as a base from which to critique the liberal model, best exemplified by the United States. While it is admittedly the best contemporary example of liberal democracy, or "civil society," America also displays the problems of this model. The modern idea of communal democracy has almost completely disappeared from the United States, contributors argue. In incisive and cogent essays, they suggest that the modern idea of communal democracy may not just be an alternative but a needed antidote to many of the problems with the American system. The scholars gathered in this important collection explore the question of how to maintain both community and liberty while at the same time adjusting to changes in the scale of political organization needed for economic prosperity and defense. The results yield a unique perspective on contemporary democracy for political theorists and concerned lay readers alike.