How People View Democracy (08 Edition)

This volume gathers essays by leading scholars and principals of regional public-opinion surveys, known as barometers, which are making possible the first systematic, worldwide study of how citizens think about democracy and weigh it against other forms of government.

Originally published in the Journal of Democracy, the essays cover topics from Arab opinion about democracy to the nostalgia for authoritarianism found in East Asia. Other contributions shed light on the rise of populism in Latin America, and explain why postcommunist regimes in Europe have won broad public support. Additional chapters invite reflection on the role of ordinary people in democratization through the rise of expressive social values, and ask whether political or economic factors more decisively influence how people evaluate democracy in their own countries.

No serious student of democracy can afford to be without this book. It offers an original and comprehensive view of what citizens around the world think as democracy's global third wave prepares to enter its fourth and perhaps most challenging decade.

Contributors: Michael Bratton, Yu-tzung Chang, Yun-han Chu, Russell J. Dalton, Peter R. deSouza, Ronald Inglehart, Amaney Jamal, Willy Jou, Marta Lagos, Suhas Palshikar, Chong-Min Park, Richard Rose, Mitchell A. Seligson, Sandeep Shastri, Doh C. Shin, Mark Tessler, Christian Welzel, Yogendra Yadav

Since January 2001, the results of surveys from different regions of the world have been published in the Journal of Democracy, and 11 of the 20 articles are collected here. They explore such topics as the role of ordinary people in democratization, learning to support new regimes in Europe, authoritarian nostalgia in Asia, formal versus informal institutions in Africa, and the Arab aspiration for democracy. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)