For more than a decade, policymakers and observers in the Muslim world and the West have struggled with the specter of political Islam—or "Islamic fundamentalism"—often confounded by myriad and contradictory images. This book offers a thorough, objective examination of the impact of political Islam on domestic and international politics in countries ranging from North Africa    More >

Can charismatic authority be used to further progressive politics without simultaneously doing damage? Is it possible for a movement with a charismatic leader to achieve an egalitarian society? Tracing the history of Mexico's Zapatista movement and the emergence of its controversial masked spokesman, Subcommandante Marcos, Daniela di Piramo investigates the implications of these    More >

Intrigued with the question of how societies adopt norms, institutions, and rules associated with liberal democracy, the contributors to this volume examine how political actors in Latin America reorient their behavior and attitudes to support, adapt, or acquiesce to democracy. The authors offer case studies of change in political parties in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela—countries    More >

Long dominated by authoritarian regimes, the Arab World is now experiencing a variety of factors—both internal and external—-that pose the challenge of change. Significant degrees of political liberalization have occurred already in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Kuwait, although the extent to which this presages eventual democratization is far from self-evident. Elsewhere—for    More >

Drawing on the theoretical insights offered in its companion volume, this book examines the processes of and prospects for political reform in 10 Arab countries—Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—selected to demonstrate a broad range of contexts, trajectories, and political potentials. The authors have gone beyond the traditional    More >

Political Participation in the Middle East provides essential context for understanding current political activism across the MENA region. Through an in-depth exploration of seven countries, the authors address how formal and informal political institutions create opportunities for participation in venues as varied as trade unions, civic associations, political parties, and elections. And,    More >

In the past several years, the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) has strained South Africa's democracy and tested its institutions. Within that context, the authors of this collection offer a detailed assessment of the health of the country's political party system.     More >

Political parties typically are assumed to be essential for contemporary democratic government and governance. Why, then, has the regime change in Russia failed to produce viable political parties? Grigorii Golosov addresses this question, exploring issues central to an understanding of Russian political development. Golosov combines statistical and qualitative analysis, including case studies,    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! After years of decline, why has party attachment become a strong force once again in US politics? Jeffrey Stonecash argues that the recent resurgence of partisanship is but the latest chapter in a larger story of party realignment —a story that reaffirms the centrality of political parties. Stonecash marshals rich data from more than a century of elections    More >

The premise of this book is, simply, that politicians matter—that an understanding of the role played by politicians in the way that politics is carried out in their countries is, far from constituting a resurrection of outdated elitist theories, of vital importance in present-day Latin America. The authors consider politicians as both cause and effect. Drawing on pioneering field research    More >