Transitions from authoritarian rule. Tentative conclusions about uncertain democracies / Guillermo O'Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter ; with a new foreword by Cynthia J. Arnson and Abraham F. Lowenthal.
Papers originally commissioned for a conference sponsored by the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars between 1979 and 1981. Originally published as part 4 of Transitions from authoritarian rule. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Foreword / Cynthia J. Arnson and Abraham F. Lowenthal -- Foreword to the 1986 edition / Abraham F. Lowenthal -- Preface -- Introducing uncertainty -- Defining some concepts (and exposing some assumptions) -- Opening (and undermining) authoritarian regimes -- Negotiating (and renegotiating) pacts -- Resurrecting civil society (and restructuring public space) -- Convoking elections (and provoking parties) -- Concluding (but not capitulating) with a metaphor.
Summary:
Political science scholars consider the four-volume work Transitions from Authoritarian Rule to be a foundational text for studying the process of democratization, specifically in those cases where an authoritarian regime is giving way to some form of democratic government. The most important of the four books is without a doubt the fourth volume, Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies, also known as "the little green book." Transitions from Authoritarian Rule was the first book in any language to systematically compare the process of transition from authoritarianism across a broad range of countries. Political democracy is not the only possible outcome. Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead emphasize that it's not the revolution but the transition that is critical to the growth of a democratic state. This ground-breaking insight remains highly relevant as the ramifications of the Arab Spring continue to play out. This reissue features a new foreword by Cynthia J. Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Woodow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Abraham F. Lowenthal, founding director of the Latin American Program, who wrote the original volume's foreword.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.