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Can Democracy be Designed?

The Politics of Institutional Choice in Conflict-Torn Societies

Robin Luckham editor Sunil Bastian editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published:1st Jun '03

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Can Democracy be Designed? cover

This work explores how democratic institutions function and how they deal with the pressures of violence, poverty, globalization and democratization.

Constitution-making for democracy has always been a highly political and contested process. It has never been more ambitious, or more difficult, than today as politicians and experts attempt to build democratic institutions that will foster peace and stability in countries torn by violent conflict. The extended investigation out of which this book has grown has ranged across three continents. It has examined such apparently intractable cases as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sri Lanka and Fiji, as well as apparent 'success stories' like South Africa, Ghana and Uganda. The authors, while regarding democracy as a general entitlement, refuse to subscribe to a triumphalist view which sees it as a universal panacea. Instead they seek to understand how democratic institutions actually facilitate (or sometimes fail to facilitate) improved governance and the management of conflict in a variety of national settings. This thoughtful and empirical set of explorations is highly relevant to other societies wrestling with similar problems of institutional design in situations of democratic transition and/or deep-seated social conflict.

'These highly informed original contributions on the politics of institutional design offer a wealth of insights.' Martin Doornbos, Institute of Social Studies, the Hague 'The book reinforces a message that cannot be repeated too often, it seems, which is the need to relate institutions and institutional innovation to its specific political context.' Vicky Randall, University of Essex

ISBN: 9781842771501

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

352 pages