This collection of articles, written mostly by Palestinian scholars, is a result of the research cooperation between Muwatin, The Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy, Ramallah, and the TAPRI Mediterranean Studies Project, Tampere. Concentrating on the Palestinian case the articles are an attempt to answer to three main questions rising on the research agenda from recent international discussion on the Arab word more generally. They investigate to what extent the transition to democracy can be the result of outside intervention, and what is the signification conditions of transitions to democracy during the long national campaign for independent country and state.

All writers agree that, besides domestic atmosphere, external pressure has a curial impact on democracy, because external influence can destroy democracy on the national level. This is not very often discussed in the Middle East and in Arab world.