A Model for Post-Saddam Iraq
If Iraq is successfully to democratize and an inclusive democratic culture is to emerge, the Iraqi state must be reconstituted as a federal and strongly liberal system and thoroughly demilitarized.
July 2003
Volume 14, Issue 3
Iraqi Opposition Report on the Transition to Democracy
Representatives of the Iraqi democratic opposition to Saddam Hussein assess what must be done to overcome the legacy of dictatorship and pave the way toward a free and democratic future for their country.
An “Arab” More Than “Muslim” Democracy Gap
Gauging electoral competitiveness relative to economic development reveals not only that Arab countries “underperform” but, strikingly, that non-Arab Muslim-majority countries tend to “overperform.”
Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovinia
Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovinia: The Limits of Electoral Engineering
This troubled corner of Europe has become a test of the ability of outside experts and carefully designed institutions to overcome a legacy of intense ethnocommunal conflict. How are they faring?
Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina: Travails of the European Raj
Like liberals in the British East India Company more than a century ago, European and international officials have become stewards of a people's fate. The intentions are good, but will self-government result?
Political Freedom, Economic Liberty, and Prosperity
Liberty and self-government are not only good in themselves, but also have powerful and beneficial effects on a nation’s level of economic development and prosperity.
Democracy, Dictatorship, and Infant Mortality Revisited
New data covering most of the 1990s reveal that democracy, even when minimally defined, has a potent independent impact that tends to reduce infant mortality and promote overall social well-being.
Why Post-Settlement Settlements?
The decaying trajectory of democratization in South Africa represents a kind of settlement failure, resulting for the main parties in the transition having come to the table with incompatible cultural paradigms of negotiation.
Tibet: The Exiles’ Journey
Almost a half-century after being forced from their homeland, Tibetans abroad, led by the Dalai Lama, have democratized their institutions in hopes that they may one day form the basis for a free and self-governing Tibet.
Nigeria: Elections in a Fragile Regime
The election cycle concluding in the spring of 2003 was a guarded success. High hurdles to better governance and democratic consolidation remain, but Nigerians can now face them with greater hope.
Kenya: Third Time Lucky?
After falling short in 1992 and 1997, Kenya’s large but fractious opposition coalition swept to victory at the polls in 2002. Transition has arrived, but can democratic transformation follow?
Africa: States in Crisis
Democratic and ecnomic development will become sustainable in sub-Saharan Africa only with the emergence of coherent, legitimate and effective states.
Measuring Democratic Commitment
A review of Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foriegn Policy Trends 1992–2002, edited by Robert G. Herman and Theodore J. Piccone.
After the Shooting Stops
A review of "Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements" Edited by Stephen John Stedman, Donald Rothchild, and Elizabeth M. Cousens.
Election Watch
Reports on elections in Argentina, Armenia, Belize, Benin, El Salvador, Montenegro, Nigeria, Paraguay, and Yemen.
Documents on Democracy
Excerpts from: Kenyan president-elect Emilio Mwai Kibaki’s inaugural speech; statement by the International Movement of Parliamentarians for Democracy condemning the crackdown on Cuban dissidents; Organization of American States (OAS) secretary-general César Gaviria’s speech at a conference entitled “Financing Democracy: Political Parties, Campaigns and Elections.”