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| Johns Hopkins Univ. Press |
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April 2004, Volume 15, Number 2
The Anti-American Century
The Anti-American Century?Ivan Krastev
The twentieth century has been called "the American century," but it appears that the twenty-first may be dominated by anti-Americanism, an all-purpose ideology that poses a serious obstacle to the progress of democracy.
The Imperative of State-Building
Francis Fukuyama
Weak or failed states are at the root of many serious global problems, from poverty and AIDS to drug trafficking and terrorism, to the failure of democratic government itself. State-building must become a priority for the world community.
Christianity and Democracy
- The Catholic Wave
Daniel Philpott
Long wary of the modern state as such, the Roman Catholic Church became a champion of democratic government around the time of Vatican II, and helped to set off the Third Wave of democratization.
- The Pioneering Protestants
Robert D. Woodberry and Timothy S. Shah
Historical and other evidence from around the world suggests that Protestantism has helped to create a web of mediating factors-from higher literacy to lower corruption to active civic groups-that encourage self-government.
- The Ambivalent Orthodox
Elizabeth Prodromou
Orthodoxy's difficult historical experiences have made it ambivalent toward democratic pluralism, but that may be changing, with believers in established democracies leading the way.
- The Global Picture
Peter L. Berger
That modern democracy first arose within the ambit of Western Christianity is far from an accident. Today, the major Christian communions largely support democracy, even while necessarily retaining the right to criticize democratic decisions in the name of religious truth claims.
Jamal Benomar
A thorough, deliberate, and consultative constitution-making process, which takes account of key lessons learned in other countries, will be essential to the legitimacy of a new Iraqi constitution and to the future of democracy.
Constitutional Design for Divided Societies
Arend Lijphart
Constitution writers in ethnically or otherwise divided countries should focus on designing a system of power-sharing rules and institutions. Studies by political scientists point to a set of basic recommendations that should form a starting point for constitutional negotiations.
Georgia's Rose Revolution
Charles H. Fairbanks, Jr.
Events last November confounded expectations set by the failure of democratization in Russia and other ex-Soviet republics, and should prompt new reflections on how fragile openings to democracy may be sustained and widened.
Change In Uganda
- A New Opening?
Edward Kannyo
The decision by Uganda's leaders to abandon the country's "movement" system and adopt multiparty pluralism creates a significant opportunity for democratic progress. - Museveni's Machinations
Anne Mugisha
Uganda's move to a multiparty system is really a maneuver by President Yoweri Museveni to prolong his stay in power beyond the two-term limit mandated by the constitution.
Anthony L. Smith
East Timor, which emerged from a tragic and bloody past to gain full independence in 2002, offers a fascinating case of democratization in a small developing country with a shallow history of democracy.
Exchange
The Czech Past and the Cuban FutureOswaldo Payá /Václav Havel
- In an exchange of letters, leading Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá discusses with Václav Havel the lessons that the Czechoslovak experience offers to Cubans seeking a democratic transition in their own country.
Books in Review
- Ousting the "Final 45"
Thomas O. Melia
A review of Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025 by Mark Palmer.
Election Watch
- Reports on recent elections in Georgia, Guatemala, Guinea, Iran, Russia, and Serbia.
Documents on Democracy
- Excerpts from a United Nations report on the feasibility of early elections and possible alternatives in Iraq.
- Excerpts from an inaugural address by Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili delivered in Tbilisi on January 25.
- Excerpts from a letter signed by more than 100 reformist Iranian parliamentarians criticizing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for approving the Guardian Council's disqualification of more than 2,000 candidates from the February 20 parliamentary elections.
- Excerpts from a speech by Sierra Leonean activist Zainab Hawa Bangura of the Campaign for Good Governance, delivered at the opening of the World Movement for Democracy Assembly in Durban, South Africa, on February 1.
- A petition published in Lebanon's al-Nahar newspaper and signed by more than 700 Syrian intellectuals, writers, and lawyers calling for an end to the country's state of emergency.
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