State of Democracy Democracy Assessments in Eight Nations Around the World

"The State of Democracy: Democracy Assessments in Eight Nations Around the World is the robust and sensitive study of democratisation in eight very different countries at varying stages of democratisation Bangladesh, El Salvador, Italy, Kenya, Malawi, New Zealand, Peru and South Korea. This unique comparative study first presents the findings of in-country teams of experts in the eight countries on the state of democracy in their own country; and concludes with an analysis and synthesis of their findings to suggest an overall general trajectory of the democratisation process. In doing so, the conclusions examine a variety of issues of significance to democracy, including for example the creation of electoral space, the formation of political parties, the political inclusion of minorities, mechanisms of accountability, and the reduction of corruption. The strength of "The State of Democracy lies in the common use by the eight teams of thesame democracy assessment framework developedunder the auspices of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Stockholm. This innovative assessment framework covers every aspect of democracy: citizen rights and the rule of law, representative and accountable government, civil society and popular participation, and the international dimensions of democracy. Theexpert teams used the same methodology to answer the same questions: how democraticare we? In what respects have we made progress? What are the major defects of ourgoverning arrangements from a democratic point of view? How do we stand in comparison with our past and with other comparator countries?Thus their findings areboth comprehensive and directly comparable. "The State of Democracy contains summariesBeetham, David is the author of 'State of Democracy Democracy Assessments in Eight Nations Around the World', published 2002 under ISBN 9789041119315 and ISBN 9041119310.