Democratic Transitions

Conversations with World Leaders
Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4214-1760-8
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press / Idea (Co-Published)

Buch, Englisch, 488 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 703 g

Thirteen former presidents and prime ministers discuss how they helped their countries end authoritarian rule and achieve democracy.

National leaders who played key roles in transitions to democratic governance reveal how these were accomplished in Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, and Spain. Commissioned by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), these interviews shed fascinating light on how repressive regimes were ended and democracy took hold.

In probing conversations with Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Patricio Aylwin, Ricardo Lagos, John Kufuor, Jerry Rawlings, B. J. Habibie, Ernesto Zedillo, Fidel V. Ramos, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, F. W. de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, and Felipe González, editors Sergio Bitar and Abraham F. Lowenthal focused on each leader’s principal challenges and goals as well as their strategies to end authoritarian rule and construct democratic governance. Context-setting introductions by country experts highlight each nation’s unique experience as well as recurrent challenges all transitions faced. A chapter by Georgina Waylen analyzes the role of women leaders, often underestimated. A foreword by Tunisia’s former president, Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, underlines the book’s relevance in North Africa, West Asia, and beyond.

The editors’ conclusion distills lessons about how democratic transitions have been and can be carried out in a changing world, emphasizing the importance of political leadership. This unique book should be valuable for political leaders, civil society activists, journalists, scholars, and all who want to support democratic transitions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bitar, Sergio

Lowenthal, Abraham F

Lowenthal, Abraham F.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1.Brazil
Chapter 2. Chile
Chapter 3. Ghana
Chapter 4. Indonesia
Chapter 5. Mexico

Chapter 6. The Philippines
Chapter 7. Poland

Chapter 8. South Africa
Chapter 9. Spain
Chapter 10. Women Activists in Democratic Transitions
Chapter 11. From Authoritarian Rule toward Democratic Governance
Acknowledgments
About the Editors and Contributors
Selected Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Bitar, Sergio
Sergio Bitar, president of Chile’s Foundation for Democracy, is a political leader and public intellectual.

Lowenthal, Abraham F.
Abraham F. Lowenthal is professor emeritus of the University of Southern California, president emeritus of the Pacific Council on International Policy, a nonresident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, and an adjunct professor at Brown University. He was founding director of both the Inter-American Dialogue and the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin American Program.

Sergio Bitar, president of Chile’s Foundation for Democracy, is a political leader and public intellectual. Abraham F. Lowenthal, professor emeritus of the University of Southern California, was the founding director of the Inter-American Dialogue and the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program.