What do you think?
Rate this book
Can Democracy be Designed?: The Politics of Institutional Choice in Conflict-Torn Societies
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.
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.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published August 23, 2003
4 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 28, 2017
For anyone interested in the working of democracy both as institutions and political movements in the none western and less developed world, this is an excellent book which provides an indepth assessment of countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Sri lanka and more; during their individual progress through socio-economic political and military upheavals.
As it is academic in nature, it is not a leisure read, but rather a commitment which requires deep engagement and assessment on the part of the reader. The language is simple and easy to grasp for average user of the English language and focuses a lot at least in the Sri Lanka case on the impact of the electoral system on the outcomes and results of political decision-making process in the country.
As it is academic in nature, it is not a leisure read, but rather a commitment which requires deep engagement and assessment on the part of the reader. The language is simple and easy to grasp for average user of the English language and focuses a lot at least in the Sri Lanka case on the impact of the electoral system on the outcomes and results of political decision-making process in the country.
Displaying 1 of 1 review