The Construction of Democracy: Lessons From Practice and Research


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How should democracies balance the hopes and constraints of their societies with the architecture of their constitutions and institutions to secure freedom, promote citizenship, and foster prosperity? In The Construction of Democracy , leading scholars from seven different countries―and key decision makers from eight―come together to analyze the dimensions of democratic design and draw not only practical but feasible recommendations.


Here citizens, politicians, and government officials offer valuable insight into the craft of politics with real examples of success and failures from some of the leading policy makers of our time―including the president of Portugal, former presidents of Brazil and Colombia, and a former prime minister of India. Drawing on the work of the Club of Madrid's Conference on Democratic Transition and Consolidation, the contributors discuss building and sustaining a contemporary democratic state, strengthening pluralism and public participation, designing effective constitutions, confronting economic challenges for new democracies, and controlling corruption.
In a rare instance where the expertise of practical-minded scholars is melded with the experience of thoughtful policy makers, this volume offers much-needed insight to others seeking sensible and effective solutions.
Contributors: Carlos Blanco, minister for the reform of the state, Venezuela; Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil; Aníbal Cavaco Silva, president of Portugal; Antônio Octávio Cintra, the Research Service of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies; Rut Diamint, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires; Jorge I. Domínguez, Harvard University; Grzegorz Ekiert, Harvard University; César Gaviria, former president of Colombia; Anna Grzymala-Busse, University of Michigan; Inder Kumar Gujral, former prime minister of India; Anthony Jones, the Gorbachev Foundation of North America; Marcelo Barroso Lacombe, the Research Service of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies; José Luis Méndez, El Colegio de México; Andrew Richards, Instituto Juan March of the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Ciencias Sociales, Madrid; Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University; Richard Simeon, University of Toronto; Luc Turgeon, University of Toronto.

Review
"The book is useful in a variety of ways... its effort to include academics as well as practitioners makes it stand out from the crowd of other volumes on democratisation."
(Henry A. Dietz Latin American Studies )

About the Author
Jorge I. Domínguez is the Antonio Madero Professor of Mexican and Latin American Politics and Economics at Harvard University and an advisor to the Club of Madrid. He is the author and editor of several books, including Constructing Democratic Governance in Latin America , also by Johns Hopkins University Press. Anthony Jones is executive director of the Gorbachev Foundation of North America, on the Board of Directors of the Club of Madrid, an affiliate of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, and associate professor of sociology at Northeastern University. He has authored and edited ten books.


Tags:Political Science, General, Political Ideologies, Democracy, Comparative Politics, History & Theory, Constitutions

isbn:9780801885952, amazon:0801885957, google:6ZyMF6WNA_8C