Oftentimes, democracy is not spread out evenly over the territory of a country. Instead, pockets authoritarianism can persist within democratic system. A growing body literature questions how such subnational authoritarian enclaves be democratized. Despite fascinating insights, all existing pathways rely on actions elites and are therefore top-down. This article seeks to kick-start discussion b...

Mass movements that are able to overthrow a dictator do not always lead democracy. Transition periods present narrow windows of opportunity in which activists face difficult decisions build democracy and prevent authoritarian relapse. Existing scholarship offers limited guidance for pro-democracy forces because it focuses on unchangeable structural factors cases with known outcome. We propose a...

The privatization of war was an objective reality of the political trends. Globalization, information, Technological democratization and Decentralization of power were the root causes of the privatization of war. To world security and national and personal security, the world and the people should be concerned about the development trend of the privatization of war.

Elections have constituted important symbolic events throughout the course of democratization and continue to be one of the most extensively analysed features of Taiwan’s political landscape. 1 Contemporary elections are fiercely contested and often dramatic events, with high levels of citizen engagement. 2 Analyses of party and candidate behaviour during campaigns have also suggested that “Tai...

This paper examines how authoritarian legislative institutions affect regime survival. I argue that authoritarian legislatures and party systems, even when devised to quell threats from authoritarian rivals, can influence the distribution of power in a subsequent democracy. When legislative institutions and party systems help protect the interests of authoritarian elites in new democracies, the...

The project to build a stable democracy in Iraq presents an unparalleled opportunity to better understand the processes of democratization, and to therefore improve our grand theories about how democracy emerges. In order to do this, it is crucial to first know what theories are invoked or suggested by U.S. policy in Iraq. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to identify the theoretical fou...