Dangers and Dilemmas of Democracy

Issue Date April 1994
Volume 5
Issue 2
Page Numbers 57-74
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Read the full essay here.

About the Author

Philippe C. Schmitter, professor emeritus in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute, previously taught at the University of Chicago and Stanford University. He is the coeditor (with Guillermo O’Donnell and Laurence Whitehead) of the seminal four-volume series Transitions from Authoritarian Rule.

View all work by Philippe C. Schmitter

Further Reading

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Twenty Years of Postcommunism: In Search of A New Model

In the twenty years since 1989, acute excitement over democratic transition and consolidation gave way to symptoms of “democracy fatigue” and elite exhaustion; successful economic transition away from state socialism…

Volume 18, Issue 2

The Challenge of Closely Fought Elections

Closely fought elections are often fraught with conflict, splitting societies asunder. How can democracy survive such rough and close contests?

Volume 17, Issue 1

Russia: Authoritarianism Without Authority

Vladimir Putin has pulled the plug on democracy in Russia in an effort to strengthen the authority of the central state. But a look at Russian federal relations shows that…