Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization

This book examines why many authoritarian regimes, posing as democracies through elections, do not become democracies.

Jason Brownlee (Author)

9780521869515, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 July 2007

280 pages, 6 tables
23.1 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.58 kg

"This is a welcome addition to recent work emphasizing the importance of institutions in nondemocratic regimes. [...]The care with which the author traces the theoretical claims through the empirical narratives is the book's greatest strength. What he finds within the cases themselves opens up potentially interesting new puzzles for future research."
-Jennifer Gandhi, Emory University, Perspectives on Politics

Far from sweeping the globe uniformly, the 'third wave of democratization' left burgeoning republics and resilient dictatorships in its wake. Applying more than a year of original fieldwork in Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, and the Philippines, in this book Jason Brownlee shows that the mixed record of recent democratization is best deciphered through a historical and institutional approach to authoritarian rule. Exposing the internal organizations that structure elite conflict, Brownlee demonstrates why the critical soft-liners needed for democratic transitions have been dormant in Egypt and Malaysia but outspoken in Iran and the Philippines. By establishing how ruling parties originated and why they impede change, Brownlee illuminates the problem of contemporary authoritarianism and informs the promotion of durable democracy.

1. The political origins of durable authoritarianism
2. The inception of ruling parties
3. Institutional legacies and coalitional tensions
4. Ruling parties and regime persistence: Egypt and Malaysia during the third wave
5. Elite defections and electoral defeat: Iran during the third wave
6. Confrontation and democratization: the Philippines during the third wave
7. Conclusions.

Subject Areas: Central government [JPQ], Political parties [JPL], Political structure & processes [JPH], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA]