Re-rethinking Prospects for Democratization

Tags: Civil Society in West Asia

Literature on democratization rarely gives attention to the ‘big picture’. More often, scholars select one (or a few) key factors which are supposedly essential for democratization to take place or for a democracy to maintain its vibrancy.As a result, many blank spots within research on democratization remain existent. Working Paper 15 goes beyond such approaches. Democratization is a highly complex matter. A holistic framework is needed and, therefore, within this paper the concepts of democracy, democratization, and democracy promotion/assistance will be dealt with in relation to each other. The main goal is to reveal those factors that are most relevant considering prospects for democratization in general - that is, those factors that have a strong positive or negative influences on the realization of democratization.These factors are inserted into a model, which can be used as a toolbox in order to analyze prospects for democratization in specific cases.