Debating the Transition Paradigm: The Democratic Path

Issue Date July 2002
Volume 13
Issue 3
Page Numbers 13-19
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The notion of countries being on the “path to democracy” remains valid unless and until they come up with a systemic alternative to democracy.

About the Author

Ghia Nodia is director of the International School for Political Science and professor of political science at Ilia State University in Tbilisi. He is also chairman of the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development. For five months in 2016–17, he was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C.

View all work by Ghia Nodia

Further Reading

Volume 32, Issue 4

Why Sudan Succeeded Where Algeria Failed

Mass uprisings toppled dictators in both Sudan and Algeria in 2019, but only Sudan was able to secure a transition to democracy due to important differences in their protest movements,…

Volume 16, Issue 3

International Linkage and Democratization

The role of international factors varied greatly across the post-Cold War transitions to democracy, but the intensity and results of external democratizing pressure depended on two variables: linkage to the…

Volume 14, Issue 4

Can Democracy Be Taught?

Civic education can enhance democratic values and participation among adults in young democracies, but the training must be frequent and participatory. Otherwise adult civic education may not be worth doing.