Publisher's Synopsis
In the early 1950s, modernization theorists were optimistic about the future of democracy in newly emerging states, perceiving it as the form of government that would evolve ultimately from the process of economic development and modernization. The new democracies, however, have failed to maintain stability and have vacillated between democratic and authoritarian regimes. Through a synthesis of the theories of modernization, dependency, and bureaucratic authoritarianism, Professor Arat explains this instability in terms of the imbalance between two groups of human rights: civil-political and socioeconomic.;Arguing against those who believe that socioeconomic rights are group rights that can be maintained only at the expense of individual, civil-political rights, or vice versa - and a trade-off between liberty and equality is inevitable - Arat demonstrates that the stability of democracy requires a balance between the two groups of human rights. A historical review and an empirical analysis of more than 120 countries support her thesis that developing countries that recognize civil-political rights and establish democratic systems fail to maintain them if they neglect socioeconomic rights.
