Democracy and Democratization: Processes and Prospects in a Changing World (review)

Georg Sorensen’s third and latest edition of his book Democracy and Democratization covers a variety of major issues that relate to the process of democratization. One essential aim of the book is purported to be an evaluation of current prospects for democracy and democratization. Another aim of this book is to critically evaluate the prospects of the great expectations that the world has of democracy. These great expectations are in part fostered by the meteoric and swift progress of democracy in so many different countries all over the globe, and it becomes important to critically evaluate whether or not these high expectations are justified. If one considers the very recent events in the Middle East where despotic regimes have been toppled in places such as Egypt and Tunisia, and since it appears highly likely that the same events will repeat in places such as Bahrain and Yemen, it becomes that much more important to examine the validity of high expectations made by people of democracy.

Sorensen’s first chapter deals with defining democracy. He starts off by providing a brief yet thorough overview of the theory, philosophy, and practical experiences of democracy through the ages. He appears to focus predominantly on two different viewpoints of democracy, one espoused by Joseph Schumpeter, and the other espoused by David Held. The former view is considered a narrow outlook, whereas the latter view is considered to be a much broader viewpoint. Sorensen basically juxtaposes his notion of democracy as a dynamic entity that has several definitions, with the fact that these definitions are subject to continual change and modification. This dynamic nature of democracy often renders it incompatible with attempts to measure it. Among the measures that do exist, the Freedom House index is suggested as being a good starting point. However, one needs to bear in mind that socioeconomic conditions and individual country institutional patterns, too, can affect the quality of democracy.

Sorensen’s second chapter examines preconditions that are essential in the rise and spread of democracy. He suggests that coming up with a general rule-of-thumb to predict the rise and spread of democracy is untenable, and instead one needs to examine and consider the interplay between social, cultural, economic, and other conditions, such as decisions taken by political actors. Sorensen provides some rich and interesting examples of countries such as Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and Nepal to emphasize the point that a general rule-of-thumb is not tenable, and that predicting the rise of democracy is a very complex process. He also cautions against the dangers of being swayed by hindsight. However, Sorensen does provide a simple three-phase model that can be useful to detail the process of transition to democracy. These three phases, he cautions, do not have to necessarily follow a predetermined path.

The third chapter in this book offers a particularly interesting take on the “standstill” that has taken place—wherein countries seem to be stuck in the gray area between a full democracy and outright authoritarianism. Several common characteristics exist in countries that are stuck in those gray areas, including that they are weak states and are dominated by the elite sector of the populace. Sorensen does not appear very optimistic about the prospects of many new democracies (for example, Russia and Venezuela), however by citing the examples of Hungary, Poland, and Spain, he does suggest that the presence of a powerful external incentive (for example, the EU) could be useful in ushering countries onto the path of full democracy rather than allowing them to stagnate in the gray areas. But the overall picture for most transitional or new democracies is not a very encouraging one.

Next, Sorensen moves on and discusses the problems and challenges of supporting the process of democratization from the outside. He cautions against outsiders assuming too much of a role in the process, and instead suggests that they restrict their support to certain functions, and not overtake the entire...