Any study of Africa's multiparty elections reveals inherent institutional and systemic difficulties that raise questions about the electoral outcomes in the emerging democracies. An assessment of electoral processes in Africa poses methodological, conceptual, and theoretical challenges to scholars and practitioners. The chapters of this volume address these issues through an assessment of the electoral processes and an examination of democratisation trends in Africa, with special focus on case studies. The chapters on Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa analyse these complexities holistically. They examine: the potency and independence of electoral institutions; adherence to electoral laws by those charged with the statutory powers as well as the participants in the elections; the role of the media, election monitors and observers, civil society, and political parties. The authors also assess whether or not elections were conducted in a free and fair environment conducive for multiparty electoral practice and consolidation.

Picturing home examines the depiction of domestic life in British feature films made and released in the 1940s. It explores how pictorial representations of home onscreen in this period re-imagined modes of address that had been used during the interwar years to promote ideas about domestic modernity. Picturing home provides a close analysis of domestic life as constructed in eight films, contextualising them in relation to a broader, offscreen culture surrounding the suburban home, including magazines, advertisements, furniture catalogues and displays at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Exhibition. In doing so, it offers a new reading of British 1940s films, which demonstrates how they trod a delicate path balancing prewar and postwar, traditional and modern, private and public concerns.

As the number of democracies has increased around the world, a heated debate has emerged among political scientists about which system best promotes the consolidation of democracy. This book compares the experiences of diverse countries, from Latin America to southern Africa, from Uruguay, Japan, and Taiwan to Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

Does Western-style democracy make sense in the various geographic, economic, and social settings of the continent? How far toward democracy have recent liberalization movements gone? In The Fate of Africa's Democratic Experiments, Leonardo A. VillalÃ3n, Peter VonDoepp, and an international group of contributors consider the aftermath, success, failure, and future of the wave of democracy that swept Africa in the early 1990s. In some countries, democratic movements flourished, while in others, democratic success was more circumscribed. This detailed analysis of key political events in countries at the forefront of democratic change -- Benin, Central African Republic, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, and Zambia -- provides for broadly representative continental and linguistic coverage of directions and prospects for Africa's democracies. The contributors are Michael Chege, John F. Clark, Joshua B. Forrest, Abdourahmane Idrissa, Bruce Magnusson, Carrie Manning, Richard R. Marcus, Andreas Mehler, David J. Simon, Leonardo A. VillalÃ3n, and Peter VonDoepp.

This exciting new handbook provides a global overview of the process of democratization, offering chapter by chapter discussion at both the country and regional levels and examining the interaction between the domestic and external factors that affect the progression of countries from authoritarian to democratic rule. Bringing together 29 key experts in the field, the work is designed to contrast the processes and outcomes of democratic reform in a wide range of different societies, evaluating the influence of factors such as religion, economic development, and financial resources. It is structured thematically into four broad sections: Section I provides a regional tour d’horizon of the current state of democratisation and democracy in eight regions around the world Section II examines key structures, processes and outcomes of democratisation and democracy Section III focuses on the relationship between democratisation and international relations through examination of a range of issues and actors including: the third and fourth waves of democracy, political conditionality, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and the Organisation of African States Section IV Examines the interaction between democratisation and development with a focus on poverty and inequality, security, human rights, gender, war, and conflict resolution. A comprehensive survey of democratization across the world, this work will be essential reading for scholars and policy-makers alike.

The fragility of democracy in Southeast Asia is a subject of increasing concern. While there has been significant movement in the direction of democratisation, the authoritarian tendencies of popularly elected leaders and the challenges posed by emerging security threats have given rise to a shared concern about the return of military rule in the region. This book examines the nature of political transitions in Southeast Asia and why political transitions towards political liberalisation and democracy have often failed to take off. It considers political systems in Southeast Asia that have gone through significant periods of transition but continue to face serious challenges toward democratic consolidation. Some key questions that the book focuses on are – Are emerging democracies in the region threatened by weak, failed or authoritarian leadership? Are political institutions that are supposed to support political changes toward democratisation weak or strong? How can democratic systems be made more resilient? and What are the prospects of democracy becoming the defining political landscape in Southeast Asia?

Drawing on new approaches in comparative politics, Democratic Latin America focuses on analyzing political institutions as a way to assess broader trends in the region’s politics, including the rise of democracy. The text looks at the major institutions–executive, legislature, judiciary, military, and more—in 18 democratic countries to not only provide an expansive view of politics in Latin America but to also facilitate cross-national comparison. Democratic Latin America uniquely surveys the "what” of the region’s politics as well as the “why” and “how” to help students critically consider Latin America’s future.

1. Introduction -- 2. The Ethnic Foundations of Electoral Politics in Kenya -- 3. Ethnicity and the Swing Vote -- 4. Campaign Strategy: Appealing to a Diverse Electorate -- 5. Persuasion on the Campaign Trail -- 6. From Electoral Politics to Policymaking: Education Reform in Kenya -- 7. Electoral Competition and Policymaking in Ghana -- 8. Conclusion.

This book examines the experience of democracy in developing countries such as Mexico, Zambia, India and Indonesia. The book will be of interest to scholars of Comparative Politics, Third World Politics and Development studies.

Democratic Governance and Political Participation in Nigeria 1999-2014 seeks to critically analyse Nigeria's democratic experience since 1999 when the current Republic was instituted. Given the chequered democratic antecedents of the country, the book examines the factors responsible for the resilience of the present democratic dispensation, in spite of forces inhibiting democratic consolidation. It also examines these inhibiting forces and makes recommendations for overcoming them. Finally, the book seeks to stimulate intellectual discourse on Nigeria's democracy and arouse greater research interests in the subject.