Political Parties In The Third World

Students of political parties and of Third World politics will find this introductory textbook both useful and stimulating. Political Parties in the Third World demonstrates the continuing importance and versatility of Third World parties, which persist in most Third World states, including those governed by military regimes. The main part of the book consists of specially commissioned case studies covering the main Third World regions and types of party systms -- Zambia, Ghana, Iraq, India, Mexico, Brazil, Jamaica and Cuba. Each study examines the origins and development of the party system, parties' political role and future prospects. The conclusion draws on these studies to consider how parties persist as institu

This book offers a comparative and thematic introduction to third world politics, placing it in historical, social and international context. The second edition has been expanded with new sections on East and South East Asia added to revised and updated coverage of Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The authors all have lengthy experience of living in and writing about different regions of the Third World.

Praise for the first edition: "... this masterful and concise volume overviews the range of approaches social scientists have applied to explain events in the Third World." --Journal of Developing Areas Understanding Third World Politics is a comprehensive, critical introduction to political development and comparative politics in the non-Western world today. Beginning with an assessment of the shared factors that seem to determine underdevelopment, B. C. Smith introduces the major theories of development--development theory, modernization theory, neo-colonialism, and dependency theory--and examines the role and character of key political organizations, political parties, and the military in determining the fate of developing nations. This new edition gives special attention to the problems and challenges faced by developing nations as they become democratic states by addressing questions of political legitimacy, consensus building, religion, ethnicity, and class.

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Beginning by looking at the concept of democracy in its various forms and the literature thereof, the text then looks at the Third World specifically, examining the impact of colonial rule, the eclipse of democracy in the years after independence and the prospects for the future.

This book examines the experience of democracy in developing countries such as Mexico, Zambia, India and Indonesia. The book will be of interest to scholars of Comparative Politics, Third World Politics and Development studies.