July 2001

Volume 12, Issue 3

History and Memory: The Revolutions of 1989-91

There has been surprisingly little celebration of the tenth anniversary of the revolutions that brought down communism. The exaggerated hopes of the time have given way to disillusionment, but the real achievements of many of the postcommunist countries should not be discounted.

Francophone Africa in Flux

Serbia’s Prudent Revolution

A bloodless revolution toppled the corruption-ridden 13-year-old regime of Slobodan Milosevic and brought to power a team led by committed democrats. Although strains exist within the new 18-party ruling coalition, there are strong reasons for it to hold together during the current period of transition.

Women and Democracy

Romania’s Politics of Dejection

The elections of 2000 reflected the profound disillusionment of the Romanian electorate with the performance of the centrist government of the past four years, rather than a turn away from democracy itself.

Two Models of Democracy

A review of Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries by Arend Lijphart and Elections as Instruments of Democracy: Majoritarian and Proportional Views, by G. Bingham Powell, Jr.

Election Watch

Reports on elections in Albania, Benin, Chad, Guyana, Iran, Micronesia, Mongolia, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Uganda, and Yugoslavia (Montenegro).

Documents on Democracy

Excerpts from: “Tunisia 2004: Manifesto of Progressive Tunisian Democrats”; the Declaration of Quebec City from the third  Summit of the Americas meeting; Mexican foreign minister Jorge Castañeda’s address at the 57th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.