Pluralism by Default: Weak Autocrats and the Rise of Competitive Politics

· Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM
Ebook
276
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Pluralism by Default will change the way we understand the emergence of democracies and the consolidation of autocracies.” —Chrystia Freeland, author of Plutocrats

Exploring sources of political contestation in the former Soviet Union and beyond, Pluralism by Default proposes that pluralism in “new democracies” is often grounded less in democratic leadership or emerging civil society and more in the failure of authoritarianism. Dynamic competition frequently emerges because autocrats lack the state capacity to steal elections, impose censorship, or repress opposition. In fact, the same institutional failures that facilitate political competition may also thwart the development of stable democracy.

“A tour de force brimming with theoretical originality and effective use of in-depth case studies. It will enrich our understanding of post-communist politics and help reshape the way we think about democracy, authoritarianism, and regime change more broadly.” —M. Steven Fish, author of Democracy Derailed in Russia: The Failure of Open Politics

About the author

Lucan Way is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. He is the coauthor of Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War.

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