Democratic Transition Theories

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how major democratic transitions have been successfully achieved in some countries, but not in others. The paper explores why this so and discusses whether there is a link between economic development and democracy.

Outline:
Introduction
Literature Review
Economics and Democracies
Authoritarian Transitions

From the Paper:

"An article by Herbert Kitschelt ("Political Regime Change: Structure and Process-Driven Explanations?") of Duke University - writing in the American Political Science Review - examines two ways in which political scientists attempt to explain political regime change. It's an effective way to examine the changes of regimes, by first learning the style and structure of how they change."
"Kitschelt points out that while there have been "profound political regime transformations" in many places, including Latin America, Eastern and southern Europe, East Asia and even in Africa, political scientists are nevertheless divided as to how to explain these dramatic changes in power structure. Kitschelt writes that there are political scientists who take the "structural" and "configurational" point of view as far as explaining the regime changes; on the other side of the coin, there are political scientists who "focus on the process of change itself," Kitschelt explains. The latter group simply follows the order of events and the "strategic" moves of the key players."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Diamond, Larry. (2006). Seymour Martin Lipset.1959. Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy. American Political Science Review, 100(4), 667-676.
• Encarnacion, Omar G. (1996). Review: The Politics of Dual Transitions. Comparative Politics,28(4), 477-492.
• Guo, Sujian. (1999). Democratic Transition: A Critical Overview. Issues & Studies, 35(4),133-148.
• Haggard, Stephan; & Kaufman, Robert R. (1997). The Political Economy of DemocraticTransitions. Comparative Politics, 29(3), 263-283.
• Kitschelt, Herbert. (1992). Political Regime Change: Structure and Process-DrivenExplanations? American Political Science Review, 86(4), 1028-1034.

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• Analytical Essay # 20585 : "Elites & Democratic Consolidation in Latin Amer. & Southern Europe" ( John Higley & Richard Gunther, Eds )"
• Term Paper # 121762 : "Nursing Transitions Theory"
• Analytical Essay # 119558 : "Informal Institutions in China"

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