Politicising Democracy The New Local Politics of Democratisation

by Harriss, John; Stokke, Kristian; Törnquist, Olle

• ISBN13: 9781137355195
• ISBN10: 1137355190
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-10-01
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

There is a major contradiction in contemporary politics: there has been a wave of democratization that has swept across much of the world, while at the same time globalization appears to have reduced the social forces that have built democracy historically. This book, by an international group of authors, analyses the ways in which local politics in developing countries - often neglected in work on democratization - render democratic experiments more or less successful in realizing substantial democracy.

Author Biography

John Harriss is Professor of Development Studies at the London School of Economics, UK. His research now focuses on politics and political economy, with particular reference to India. He is the author, with Stuart Corbridge, of Reinventing India: Economic Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy, and of Depoliticizing Development: the World Bank and Social Capital.

Olle Törnquist is Professor of Political Science and Development Research, University of Oslo, Norway. He has published extensively on politics and development, radical politics, and problems of democratisation in comparative perspective. His recent books include Politics and Development: A Critical Introduction, Popular Development and Democracy: Case Studies in the Philippines, Indonesia and Kerala, and Indonesia's Post-Soeharto Democracy Movement (with S.Adi Prasetyo & E.A.Priyono).

Kristian Stokke is Professor in Human Geography at the University of Oslo, Norway. His research focuses on social movement politics and democratisation in South Africa and ethno-nationalist conflicts and post-conflict political transformations in Sri Lanka.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Timothy M. Shaw
Preface; John Harriss, Kristian Stokke and Olle Törnquist
1. Introduction: The New Local Politics of Democratisation; John Harriss, Kristian Stokke and Olle Törnquist
2. Decentralisation in Indonesia: Less State, More Democracy?; Henk Schulte Nordholt
3. Bossism and Democracy in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia: Towards an Alternative Framework for the Study of 'Local Strongmen'; John T.Sidel
4. Can Public Deliberation Democratise State Action? Municipal Health Councils and Local Democracy in Brazil; Günther Schönleitner
5. Historical Hurdles in the Course of the People's Planning Campaign in Kerala, India; Michael Tharakan
6. Social Movements, Socio-Economic Rights and Substantial Democratisation in South Africa; Kristian Stokke and Sophie Oldfield
7. More Than Difficult, Short of Impossible: Party Building and Local Governance in the Philippines; Joel Rocamora
8. Trade Unions, Institutional Reform and Democracy: Nigerian Experiences with South African and Ugandan Comparisons; Björn Beckman
9. The Political Deficit of Substantial Democratisation; Olle Törnquist