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Why Democracies Develop and Decline

Why Democracies Develop and Decline

Why Democracies Develop and Decline

Michael Coppedge, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
Amanda B. Edgell, University of Alabama
Carl Henrik Knutsen, Universitetet i Oslo
Staffan I. Lindberg, Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden
June 2022
Available
Hardback
9781316514412

    The Varieties of Democracy project (V-Dem) pioneered new ways to conceptualize and measure democracy, producing a multidimensional and disaggregated data set on democracy around the world that is now widely used by researchers, activists, and governments. Why Democracies Develop and Decline draws on this data to present a comprehensive overview and rigorous empirical tests of the factors that contribute to democratization and democratic decline, looking at economic, social, institutional, geographic, and international factors. It is the most authoritative and encompassing empirical analysis of the causes of democratization and reversals. The volume also proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework and presents an up-to-date description of global democratic developments from the French Revolution to the present. Each chapter leverages the specialized expertise of its authors, yet their sustained collaboration lends the book an unusually unified approach and a coherent theory and narrative.

    • A comprehensive and empirically informed overview of the different causes of democracy
    • New data sheds light on prominent theories of democratization and democratic decline
    • Contributions present state-of-the art theories and empirical insights on a wide variety of topics pertaining to democratization

    Reviews & endorsements

    ‘[T]his volume, with its rich findings and theoretical framework, is certain to become a go-to reference for scholars of democratization and democratic survival.’ Alex M. Kroeger, Perspectives on Politics

    See more reviews

    Product details

    June 2022
    Hardback
    9781316514412
    350 pages
    235 × 157 × 29 mm
    0.734kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Introduction Michael Coppedge, Amanda B. Edgell, Carl Henrik Knutsen and Staffan I. Lindberg
    • 2. The Ups and Downs of Democracy, 1789-2018 Carl Henrik Knutsen and Svend-Erik Skaaning
    • 3. Long-Run Factors John Gerring
    • 4. International Influence: The Hidden Dimension Michael Coppedge, Benjamin Denison, Paul Friesen, Lucía Tiscornia and Yang Xu
    • 5. Economic Determinants Carl Henrik Knutsen and Sirianne Dahlum
    • 6. Political Institutions and Democracy Allen Hicken, Samuel Baltz and Fabricio Vasselai
    • 7. Democracy and Social Forces Michael Bernhard and Amanda B. Edgell
    • 8. Causal Sequences in Long-Term Democratic Development and Decline Michael Coppedge, Amanda B. Edgell, Carl Henrik Knutsen and Staffan I. Lindberg.
      Contributors
    • Michael Coppedge, Amanda B. Edgell, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Staffan I. Lindberg, Svend-Erik Skaaning, John Gerring, Benjamin Denison, Paul Friesen, Lucía Tiscornia, Yang Xu, Sirianne Dahlum, Allen Hicken, Samuel Baltz, Fabricio Vasselai, Michael Bernhard

    • Editors
    • Michael Coppedge , University of Notre Dame, Indiana

      Michael Coppedge is Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He is a principal investigator of the Varieties of Democracy project, the author of Democratization and Research Methods (2012), and co-author of Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change (2020).

    • Amanda B. Edgell , University of Alabama

      Amanda B. Edgell is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama. She works on the politics of regime transformation, authoritarianism, political inclusion, and African politics. Her work has appeared in several peer-reviewed journals, including the British Journal of Political Science, European Journal of Political Research, Democratization, and African Studies Review.

    • Carl Henrik Knutsen , Universitetet i Oslo

      Carl Henrik Knutsen is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo and leads the Comparative Institutions and Regimes (CIR) research group. He is also Research Professor at PRIO, and a principal investigator of Varieties of Democracy and several research projects, including an ERC Consolidator Grant on autocratic politics, and co-author of Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change (2020).

    • Staffan I. Lindberg , Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden

      Staffan I. Lindberg is Professor of Political Science and Director of the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He is a principal Investigator of the Varieties of Democracy project as well as several other projects, a Wallenberg Academy Fellow, author of Democracy and Elections in Africa (2006), and co-author of Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change (2020).