Comparative Politics: Principles of Democracy and Democratization

The comparative politics text is organized around a problem. How does one promote the development of political democracy? What are the factors that help explain the emergence of political democracy? Although some may object to the seemingly prescriptive nature of the question (the implication that democracy should exist everywhere) I adopt this focus for two reasons. First, it is a very practical question. Knowing the factors that affect the development of democracy can help students understand why "building" democracy in post war Iraq is so difficult, if not impossible. Thus the question is not prescriptive—rather it presumes that students need to ask this question first to realize that democracy may not be the best institutional arrangement given a set of historical, economic, social, cultural and international circumstances. Second, it provides an issue on which to "hang our theoretical hats"—it demonstrates that some very practical questions can be addressed using theories that students read about in texts—it makes the field relevant and real.
Of course, there is no universally applicable institutional design that can help "promote" democracy, and there is no guarantee that such designs will work. The answer clearly depends on somewhat unique historical, economic, social, cultural circumstances and international circumstances that each country faces. Indeed, what institutional arrangements are chosen depends on whether they "fit" these circumstances.
The remainder of this book is designed with this problem in mind. The book is organized in two major sections. In the first section, I outline the contextual factors that detract from or promote the development of democracy, the "soil" if you will in which the democratic "seed" might be planted. The second section deals with the elements of the "design" of the system––the menu of institutional choices. These include the design of the executive, the legislat ure, the judiciary, election laws, and the territorial arrangement of the political systems (particularly issues regarding federalism). To help illustrate how contextual factors and institutional choices interact, in this book we use the contemporary case of Iraq. Whatever one’s perspective, there is not doubt that Iraq is a strategically and politically important case. Further, there is good reason to believe that it will remain a well known case for some time. Thus in each chapter we examine how the themes expounded upon apply to the Iraqi case, in terms of context (historical background, political culture, level of economic development, etc.) and the institutional choices were made in the years immediately following the invasion and collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
Thus, in chapter 2 we examine the development of democracy in historical perspective, in particular focusing on the experiences of established, old democracies and illustrating their alternative paths to political democracy. These cases include Great Britain, France, United States, Germany, Russia, and Japan. The use of historical cases to identify patterns of democratic development accomplishes two things. First it underlines the "uniqueness" of the western democratic experience, and how to some extent, democracy developed by "accident" under conditions quite different than those face by countries in political transition now. Second, using these cases helps to identify the common historical, social, and economic conditions that helped to promote (or detract) from the development of democracy.
In chapters 3 through chapter 6, we illustrate the contextual conditions which promote or present problems for democratic development: Modernization and Economic Development (chapter 3); Political Culture and Ethnicity (chapter 4); Social Structure, Civil Society, and Political Society (chapter 5); and the Global and International Environment (chapter 6). In each of these chapters we examine the prevailing theoretical approaches to how these dimensions affect political development and the emergence of political democracy.
In the second major section of this book (chapter 7 through chapter 11) we illustrate the institutional "choices" available—how to arrange the Executive, and especially the pros and cons of presidential versus parliamentary versus "mixed" systems (chapter 7). Chapter 8 then investigates the political effects of legislative design, including issues of bicameralism versus unicameralism, the internal structuring of the legislature, elections laws and the role of political parties in legislation. Chapter 9 then deals with the design of the judicial system; chapter 10 examines issues related to territorial arrangement of the political system, and addresses issues such as federalism and ethnic conflict, and varieties of local empowerment. Chapter 11 then addresses issues regarding both the design of bureaucracies and the relationship between military and civilian authorities. Again, as with the first section of the book, the emphasis will be on theories regarding how different institutional designs served to promote the development of democracy. Finally Chapter 12 will sum up the principles identified in the book and apply these principles to the case of Iraq, particularly by assessing the institutional choices that were made following the collapse of the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein.

Nota biograficzna:
John Ishiyama is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Ronald E. McNair Post–Baccalaureate Achievement Prgram at Truman State University in Missouri. He is editor of The Journal of Political Science Education and is a member of APSA′s Teaching and Learning Standing Committee. He has been honoured by both APSA and the state of Missouri for his teaching.
Professor Ishiyama is the author of 3 books and over 80 articles and is a specialist on the politics of post–sovie t eastern and central Europe. He is the current President of the Midwest section of the International Studies Association.

Okładka tylna:
The comparative politics text is organized around a problem. How does one promote the development of political democracy? What are the factors that help explain the emergence of political democracy? Although some may object to the seemingly prescriptive nature of the question (the implication that democracy should exist everywhere) I adopt this focus for two reasons. First, it is a very practical question. Knowing the factors that affect the development of democracy can help students understand why "building" democracy in post war Iraq is so difficult, if not impossible. Thus the question is not prescriptive—rather it presumes that students need to ask this question first to realize that democracy may not be the best institutional arrangement given a set of historical, economic, social, cultural and international circumstances. Second, it provides an issue on which to "hang our theoretical hats"—it demonstrates that some very practical questions can be addressed using theories that students read about in texts—it makes the field relevant and real.
Of course, there is no universally applicable institutional design that can help "promote" democracy, and there is no guarantee that such designs will work. The answer clearly depends on somewhat unique historical, economic, social, cultural circumstances and international circumstances that each country faces. Indeed, what institutional arrangements are chosen depends on whether they "fit" these circumstances.
The remainder of this book is designed with this problem in mind. The book is organized in two major sections. In the first section, I outline the contextual factors that detract from or promote the development of democracy, the "soil" if you will in which the democratic "seed" might be planted. The second secti