Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 288
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-1-4422-6934-7 • Hardback • August 2016 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
978-1-4422-6935-4 • eBook • August 2016 • $47.50 • (£37.00)
Brian Grodsky, a former U.S. diplomat and journalist, is associate professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. His books include Social Movements and the New State and The Costs of Justice. His interests include democratization, human rights, transitional justice, global civil society, social movements, and U.S. foreign policy. He has conducted research in most of the countries covered in this book, including Russia, Poland, South Africa, Georgia, Serbia, and the United States.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: The Roots of the Democratization Disconnect
Chapter 2: The Rise and Impact of Democratic Legitimacy
Chapter 3: Democratization’s First Wave and the Economics of Political Liberty
Chapter 4: Struggles for Human Dignity Before Democratic Legitimacy: Of Communists, Fascists and Fundamentalists
Chapter 5: Fueling the Third Wave: Human Dignity and Democratization in Communist Poland
Chapter 6: Crowning the Third Wave at the Bottom of Africa
Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End of Democracy’s Third Wave: Yugoslavia
Chapter 8: Georgia’s Rose Revolution and the Affirmation of Democratic Legitimacy
Chapter 9: The Arab Spring in Egypt: A View from Democratization’s Peak
Chapter 10: Saving Democracy from the Threats of Democratic Legitimacy
Bibliography
Grodsky writes in an accessible fashion. But the Democratization Disconnect seems to be born of his frustrations while serving briefly in the US embassies in Tashkent and Warsaw. Adopting a contrarian view of democratization, Grodsky derides an international community that has generated ‘superstar status’ to democracy by raising unachievable expectations for universal human dignity. Like many who have seen too many democracy promotion efforts fall far short, Grodsky deploys widely varied case studies to demonstrate the absence of a worldwide success for democratic legitimation. But is the hope for human dignity truly a false internationally endorsed bill of goods offered up by savvy revolutionaries of any stripe? That Grodsky has positioned himself in the democratization debate via such a provocative view is, at the very least, commendable. A…comprehensive bibliography is included. Recommended for undergraduates and graduate students in comparative and international politics. Summing Up:Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
— Choice Reviews
There are some books that one knows, almost from the very first page, one will enjoy. For the present writer this is such a book. Its value is in the refreshing light it throws on the Russia that has emerged since 1991. In contrast to the picture which is painted by so many journalists, politicians, and Cold War publicists of Russia as a dreary, monolithic and authoritarian land verging on totalitarianism, a perspective based essentially on Kremlinology, this book looks at Russia from “below,” from the perspective of ordinary people (or at least ordinary Muscovites). What emerges is a picture which is much more interesting, colorful and, in a way, more optimistic than the mass media and its informants will commonly allow.... There is much to ponder in this excellent book.
— Slavic Review
Challenging widespread assumptions that the most recent democratic wave was about political liberty, Grodsky expertly shows that participants in the revolutions that took place during the past two decades in Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and some Arab countries fought primarily for economic rights while acting in the name of political ones. This is a compelling book recommended for all those interested in the future of democracy and democratization around the world.
— Lavinia Stan, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada
Brian Grodsky has written a thoughtful and important book about how the notion of democracy has been used by various ideological movements over time. His work reflects a strong understanding of history and raises critical questions about the future of democracy. Everyone concerned about peace and security should read this incisive analysis.
— Lincoln Mitchell, author of The Democracy Promotion Paradox
Grodsky's sweeping overview of the disappointing results of diverse democratic revolutions throughout the modern era is a sobering reminder that future social support for democratic institutions cannot be taken for granted. On the contrary, Grodsky shows clearly that when democracy fails, it is all too easy for authoritarian ideologues of various stripes to hijack unfulfilled mass demands for ‘human dignity.’ At a time when the fate of global democracy is more uncertain than at any point since the end of the Cold War, The Democratization Disconnect is sure to provoke widespread and salutary debate.
— Stephen E. Hanson, William and Mary