1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910784129103321

Autore

Somit Albert

Titolo

The failure of democratic nation building [[electronic resource] ] : ideology meets evolution / / Albert Somit and Steven A. Peterson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005

ISBN

1-281-36387-1

9786611363871

1-4039-7842-5

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (174 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

PetersonSteven A

Disciplina

327.73/009/015

Soggetti

Democracy

Democratization

United States Foreign relations

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [137]-150) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Contents; List of Tables; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction; 2 Authoritarian Government: The Default Option; 3 What is a Democracy?: Toward a Working Definition; 4 Democratic Nation Building: From Concept to Operational ""Checklist""; 5 Democracy: The Requisite ""Enabling Conditions""-No Small Order; 6 Will the Real Democracies Please Stand Up?; 7 American Nation Building, 1945-2005: Costs and Consequences; 8 The Fourth ""Whereas""; 9 ""Therefore Be It Resolved..."": Toward More Realistic Foreign and Domestic Policies; Notes; References; Name Index; Subject Index

Sommario/riassunto

Throughout history authoritarian governments have outnumbered democratic ones to an overwhelming degree. Even today, true democracies are an exception. In this book, Somit and Peterson argue that the main reason for this pattern is that humans are social primates with an innate tendency for hierarchical and authoritarian social and political structures. Democracy requires very special 'enabling conditions' before it can be supported by a state, conditions that require decades to evolve. As a result, attempts to export democracy through nation-building to states without these enabling conditions are doomed to failure. The authors argue that money and energy devoted



to nation-building around the globe by the U.S. would be better spent on problems facing the country domestically.