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This article examines Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s hegemony in Gujarat by studying the changes inaugurated by the party in the caste profile of Gujarati political elites. I showcase the transition of BJP from a party of elite castes to a limited accommodation of a few Hindu backward castes, especially under Narendra Modi's chief ministership. However, I argue that the recruitment of Hindu backward castes as ministers represents a case of superficial democratization as they were appointed in non-influential ministries or were co-opted only near election time. Indeed, Modi's developmentalist regime solidified the dominance of upper castes and Patels from an urban background and a few Rajputs, and led to a rural backlash in the form of Patel agitation. In the final section, I analyse these still emerging trends in Gujarat's polity, which became visible on a rural–urban continuum in the 2017 state election.

Cover -- Introduction -- Introduction -- A crucial background: why post-socialist transition was replaced by State partition in the Yugoslav federation? -- Why Democratization and Reconciliation? -- Theoretical Underpinnings -- Structure of the Book -- Section 1 -- Section 2 -- Conclusion -- Questions for students: -- References -- Section 1: Understanding the dilemmas of the post-Yugoslav Space -- Chapter 1: The Search for Meaning and Identity: Nation- and State-Building in the Western Balkans -- Introduction -- Conceptual Framework -- Croatia -- Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Serbia -- Montenegro -- Kosovo -- North Macedonia -- Albania -- Conclusion -- Questions for students: -- References -- Chapter 2: Understanding Democracy -- Introduction -- Historical, philosophical, and political origins of modern democracy -- The concept and meaning of democracy -- Scope and criteria of a democracy -- Importance of political participation -- Preconditions of substantive democracy -- a) Institutional-political preconditions -- b) Socioeconomic and sociostructural preconditions -- c) Sociocultural preconditions -- Conclusion -- Questions for students: -- References -- Chapter 3: The Role of Deliberative and Participatory Democracy in Promoting Reconciliation -- Introduction -- Deliberative and Participatory Models -- Reconciliation and the Citizen -- Democracy and the Citizen -- Rights, Privileges and Duties -- Conclusion -- Questions for students: -- References -- Chapter 4: The role of European integration in the Western Balkans -- Introduction -- Linking Democracy and Reconciliation -- Promoting Democracy and Democratic Values -- Democracy Promotion Through Enlargement -- The EU in the WB -- Conclusion -- Questions for students: -- References -- Chapter 5: Imported Democracy And Its Fragility Without Reconciliation.

Discussions of democratic involvement in science and technology are often marred by lack of clarity and consequent misunderstanding. In an effort to move beyond the bickering of the "science wars," I outline several dimensions across which it is possible to distinguish cases of democratized science. In addition, I provide evidence from varied cases, which suggests that the inability of laypeople to grasp the subtle content, difficult concepts, and methodological complexity of science is not a valid basis for a priori rejection of efforts to democratize science. I suggest that the real obstacles to the democratization of science are rooted in widespread social and economic inequalities and an unexamined commitment to expert authority, and I provide some rudimentary proposals for overcoming these hurdles.

"Based on historical analysis and personal interviews with a number of aides and respresentatives of the grand ayatollah in Iran and Iraq since 2005." ; Caption title. ; "June 2007." ; Includes bibliographic references (p. 22-23). ; Introduction -- Sistani and the Najaf hawza -- Sistani's transnational network -- Sistani and the transition to a democratic Iraq -- Sistani and the Iraqi constitution -- Sistani and the post-December 2005 elections -- Post-Sistani Iraq: who will succeed Sistani? -- The younger Sistani -- Conclusion and recommendations. ; Mode of access: Internet.

"Now, for the first time, there is a comparative study of civil society and democratization in the different regions across post-Soviet national borders. Post-Soviet Civil Society offers unique data on developments in Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Applying an innovative analytical framework derived from theories of democratization, civil society, social movements and transnational relations, the researcher was able to formulate broader comparisons and generalizations without neglecting the specific post-Soviet context. Providing a systematic comparison across civil society sectors as well as regions, this book includes sections on NGOs, the relationship between state and civil society, and transnationalization

Political families in transitional societies are often seen in the context of corruption, democratic regression, deterioration of socio-economic development, inequality, and deprivation. High levels of dynasticism, however, also exist in advanced democratic societies. Using the example of Taiwan, this article explores the factors behind the evolution of electoral dynasties and how the behavior of hereditary politicians has been conditioned by democratization. More specifically, the article argues that legacy politicians are not per se the Pandora's box of low-quality politics. Rather, they act like other networks of personal relations. As such, self-imposed ethical standards and inherited cultural norms may substantially restrain the intrinsic particularistic potentials of such networks, but in the long run only political modernization can prevent them from cultivating political capitalism—the predatory use of public resources. That is, political modernization conditions the behavior of electoral dynasties. It transforms particularistic networks into more progressive and programmatic forms of dynasticism.

This article analyzes how institutional pressures have allowed for continuities as well as brought about changes in modern police organizations in Korea. When facing a legitimacy crisis, the Korean law enforcement system has typically responded with organizational restructuring. Strong myth-building patterns compensate for the lack of moral legitimacy of the police, particularly under authoritarian-military regimes that suppress democratization movements in Korea. Even after seemingly radical organizational changes aimed at placing the police under democratic control, highly institutionalized core structures of the police remain in place. Performance reform after the economic crisis, which was proceeded from reformers` shared belief in the market-driven solutions, diagnosed the Korean police as a big, inefficient, and self-serving bureaucracy, a diagnosis that eventually caused gradual deterioration in the taken-for-granted-ness of policing activities. The internet and social media made the Korean police even more vulnerable to external challenges and a questioning of its legitimacy.

Introduces an edited collection of essays investigating the relationship between social movements & social change processes. Three kinds of change that might be produced by social movements are outlined: incorporation of social movements into existing institutional arrangements; transformation of social & political institutions; & democratization of societies in which social movements arise. Particular processes naturally occur in these types of change. Contributions to this book are organized according to one of these three processes, examining the (1) incorporation of movements into partisan politics, state policies, & public discourse in several settings, including France in 1968; (2) capacity of movements to transform basic social & political patterns, focusing on highly industrialized, complex societies; & (3) capacity of movements to promote democracy, especially in the context of Latin America. The future of social movements is briefly discussed. D. Ryfe

Before the late 1980s, political parties were unknown phenomena in colonial Hong Kong. Since then measures of democratization initiated by the British in anticipation of their withdrawal in 1997 made available a portion of political power for public contest. The democratic reforms initiated by Chris Patten, the last colonial governor of Hong Kong, accelerated party formation and competition in the last few years of British rule.

The invasion of Iraq and the subsequent attempt to engineer a democratic state highlights the strengths and limitations of democratization studies to explain why, where, and how democracy occurs. This article argues that the way power is played out globally and locally determines the nature of democratic success or failure. Traditionally, democratization studies has focused on internal structures and agents of change. However, Iraq indicates that democratization is more complex than traditional comparative politics approaches have ascribed it. In this article, there are two key propositions. Firstly, global power-holders do not hold the exclusive ability to bring about democratization, but the drive for democratization is shaped by the display of power and disputes over global authority at least as much, if not more, than national-level politics. Secondly, the display of power internally determines two key dimensions of democratization: state capacity and societal security. This article relies on the example of Iraq to illustrate the shortcomings of the traditional approach to democratization and calls on a reinvigorated interdisciplinary approach to why democratization succeeds or fails.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. The Significance of the 1996 Crisis -- 2. Taiwan's "Drifting Away" -- 3. Taiwan's "Pragmatic Diplomac -- 4. Beijing's Objections to U.S. Policy -- 5. The Taiwan Issue in Chinese Domestic Politics -- 6. The U.S. Visa Decision and Beijing's Reaction -- 7. Beijing's Probing of U.S. Intentions -- 8. The December Legislative Yuan Elections -- 9. The Confrontation -- 10. Were China's Leaders Surprised by U.S. Intervention? -- 11. PRC Strategy -- 12. Nuclear Coercion with Chinese Characteristics -- 13. The International Effect of the Crisis -- 14. Appraising the Gains and Costs of Beijing's Coercive Exercises -- 15. Conclusions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

I show that the process of democratization in developing countries constitutes an important factor in the formation of preferential trade agreements. Specifically, democratizing developing countries are more likely to form a preferential trade agreement with richer countries, whereas there is little evidence that democratic transition affects the probability of a developing country joining a preferential trade agreement with other developing countries. This result follows naturally from median voter preferences and the Heckscher–Ohlin and Stolper–Samuelson theorems. Put simply, the median voter gains from trading with the richer states and loses from trading with the other poor states. Since preferential trade agreements allow countries to waive the most-favored nation principle, the need for both trade openness and protectionism against competitors might explain why preferential trade agreements constitute one of the main features of the current wave of globalization. I quantitatively test this hypothesis using a newly compiled dataset that covers 135 developing countries from 1990 to 2007. An important implication of this article is that it could be more challenging than expected to combine domestic political equality with international economic equality.