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October 2004, Volume 15, Number 4
Latin American Presidencies InterruptedArturo Valenzuela
Over the last two decades, Latin America has seen more than a dozen presidencies come to a premature end. It is time to consider changing constitutional designs that promote conflict rather than more consensual ways of doing politics.
The Quality of Democracy
- An Overview
Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino
Since most of the world's sovereign states are now democracies, there is a growing scholarly focus on "good" or "better" democracy, and on how improvements can not only be measured, but encouraged.
- Why the Rule of Law Matters
Guillermo O'Donnell
Law-based rule means a set of basic conditions that make civic life possible. A democratic rule of law requires all that and more, however.
- The Ambiguous Virtues of Accountability
Philippe C. Schmitter
A key to "modern representative political democracy" is accountability, but the task of assessing it must be carefully thought through.
- Freedom as the Foundation
David Beetham
Freedom has always been integral to democracy. How to guard liberty is a question every democratic regime must answer.
- Addressing Inequality
Dietrich Rueschemeyer
Democracy requires robust political equality, but the persistence of social, economic, and cultural inequality complicates its realization.
- The Chain of Responsiveness
G. Bingham Powell, Jr.
Responsiveness may be conceived as a series of linkages intended to ensure that governments respect the preferences of the governed.
- A Skeptical Afterword
Marc F. Plattner
Asking what makes a good democracy is a noble and sensible enterprise, but it will always point beyond the borders of empirica political science.
Steven Rogers
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's election as president in her own right capped a campaign that spoke well of Philippine democracy, but yawning gaps in the rule of law obstruct the road to consolidation.
Debate
- The Persistence of Arab Authoritarianism
Burhan Ghalioun
The lack of democracy in the Arab world is a problem that goes far beyond the absence of competitive elections. This lack must be traced not to religion or culture, but to adverse historical and geostrategic circumstances.
- The Reality of Muslim Exceptionalism
Sanford Lakoff
The notion that the Muslim world as a whole does not suffer from a deficit in terms of competitive democracy is appealing, but rests on evidence and assumptions that cannot withstand critical scrutiny.
- Arab, Not Muslim, Exceptionalism
Alfred Stepan and Graeme B. Robertson
Muslim-majority, non-Arab countries are "overachievers" at electoral competitiveness. Arab countries, by contrast, constitute a distinctive political community that at present is inhospitable to competitive elections.
The "Alternation Effect" in Africa
Michael Bratton
Surveys show that Africans' commitment to democracy fades over time, but also that their support can be refreshed by alternations in power via elections.
Stolen Elections: The Case of the Serbian October
Mark R. Thompson and Philipp Kuntz
Slobodan Milosevic fell in the fall of 2000 after he tried to pervert national election results. He had tampered with elections before and survived. What made 2000 different, and what are the lessons to be learned from it?
Books in Review
- Witnessing Africa's Woes and Hopes
Richard Joseph
A review of A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa by Howard W. French.
Election Watch
- Reports on recent elections in Indonesia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Philippines, and Serbia.
Documents on Democracy
- An excerpt from incumbent Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's June 30 inaugural address.
- Excerpts from The Doha Declaration for Democracy and Reform, a statement issued by more than a hundred participants at a June 3-4 conference in Doha sponsored by Qatar University's Center for Gulf Studies. Also excerpted is a
speech opening the conference by Qatar's Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
- Excerpts from a July 11 inaugural speech by newly elected Serbian president Boris Tadic of the Democratic Party.
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