Contrasts democratic and authoritarian approaches to international law, explaining how their interaction will affect the world in the future.

Democracy, Agency, and the State aims to contribute to a comparatively informed theory of democracy. Professor O'Donnell begins by arguing that conceptions of 'the state' and 'democracy', and their respective defining features, significantly influence each other. Using an approach that is both historical and analytical, he traces this relationship through the idea of legally sanctioned and backed agency which grounds democratic citizenship. From this standpoint he explores several aspects of the democratic regime and of the state, distinguishing four constitutive dimensions (bureaucracy, legality, focus of collective identity, and filter). He goes on to examine the role played by the idea of 'the nation' or 'the people', and the ways in which the state represents itself to different sections of society, especially in countries marred by deep inequality and pervasive poverty. Drawing on the examples of democratic and non-democratic regime, he discusses the dialogical spaces congenial to democracy, as well as examining the options that may or may not enable agency, and the complex comparative and ethical issues raised by the intersection of agency with globalization and legal pluralism.Throughout these discussions several comparative vistas are opened, especially but not exclusively toward Latin America. The book concludes by offering a justification of democracy, even of the flawed democracies that nowadays abound. Oxford Studies in Democratization is a series for scholars and students of comparative politics and related disciplines. Volumes concentrate on the comparative study of the democratization process that accompanied the decline and termination of the cold war. The geographical focus of the series is primarily Latin America, the Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Europe, and relevant experiences in Africa and Asia. The series editor is Laurence Whitehead, Official Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.

Do external factors facilitate or hamper domestic democratic development? Do international actors influence the development of greater civil and political freedom, democratic accountability, equality, responsiveness and the rule of law in domestic systems? How should we conceptualize, identify and evaluate the extent and nature of international influence? These are some of the complex questions that this volume approaches. Using new theoretical insights and empirical data, the contributors develop a model to analyze the transitional processes of Romania, Turkey, Serbia and Ukraine. In developing this argument, the book examines: the adoption, implementation and internalization of the rule of law the rule of law as a central dimension of liberal and substantive democracy the interaction between external and domestic structures and agents Offering a different stance from most of the current literature on the subject, International Actors, Democratization and the Rule of Law makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the international dimensions of democratization. This book will be of importance to scholars, students and policy-makers with an interest in the rule of law, international relations theory and comparative politics.

A frequent criticism of contemporary political science is that empirical research too seldom is combined with in-depth inquiry into the philosophical, historical, and legal foundations of the societies it seeks to understand. Others suggest that political scientists specializing in U.S. government too rarely collaborate with those who study other countries. The contributions in this volume belie these claims. The authors, all colleagues, students, and friends of Henry W. Ehrmann, represent the U.S., France, Germany, and Canada, the four countries in which Dr. Ehrmann has lived. The essays reflect the breadth and scope of Ehrmann's work as a teacher, scholar, and political activist. The contributions to this volume cover a broad range of topics, among them political theory and methodology of comparative politics and the interrelationships of economic, social, historical, and political developments, and include theoretically oriented studies of such problems as interest group politics, political culture, and parties. Integrating constitutional law and political philosophy with comparative sociological and historical research and theory, Henry Ehrmann's approach to teaching and research sets an excellent example for the contemporary study of political science.

Andrew Arato has become a prominentpolitical theoristin the fields of democratic theory, constitutional law, and comparative politics. He has had a profound and global influenceon the thinking ofseveral generations of scholars. The Critical Theory and Democracy of Andrew Arato brings together original essays honouring Arato's intellectual contribution to the field, based round the themes in Arato's work of Critical Theory and Civil Society, Democracy and Dictatorship, and Constitution Making. It includes contributions from leading ...