One of the most exciting and hopeful trends of the past 15 years has been the worldwide movement away from authoritarian governments. The collapse of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe is only the latest and most dramatic element in a process that began in the mid-1970s and still seems to be gaining momentum in such areas as subsaharan Africa. This book summarizes the presentations and discussions at a workshop for the U.S. Agency for International Development that explored what is known about transitions to democracy in various parts of the world and what the United States can do to support the democratization process.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Introduction from A.I.D. Officials
What is a Democracy?: Plenary Session I
Getting to Democracy: Plenary Session II
Issues in the Transition to Democracy: Reports of the Working Groups
Comment and Synthesis: Plenary Session III
Regional Perspectives: Reports of the Working Groups
Threats to Democracy: Plenary Session IV
Setting an Action Agenda: Plenary Session V
Appendix: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers