Synopses & Reviews
Since the 1980s, the rapid worldwide pace of democratization has stimulated a renewed interest in just how we define and measure democracy. But what criteria are used to assess a country's democracy? How far is it subject to measurement? What kind of measurement and with what degree of precision? Can the same criteria or indexes be applied to developing democracies as to established ones? And are the standards used by Western scholars ethnocentric or universal? Leading political theorists, political scientists, and experts in comparative government from across Europe answer these and other questions in Defining and Measuring Democracy. This volume also offers an integrated analysis of the key debates and issues from how to define democracy to the issue of cultural diversity. Every chapter offers new insights and approaches, making Defining and Measuring Democracy essential reading for students and scholars in the field.
Synopsis
The rapid worldwide phase of democratization since the 1980s has stimulated a renewed interest in how we define and measure democracy. The contributors to this volume include leading political theorists, political scientists and experts in comparative government from across Europe.
Defining and Measuring Democracy offers an integrated analysis of key debates and issues ranging from the question of how to define democracy to the issue of cultural diversity. Each chapter offers new insights and approaches placed in the context of contemporary debates.