The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World by Larry Diamond
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Book Summary Author: Larry Diamond Edition: Hardcover Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2008-01-08 ISBN: 080507869X Number of pages: 464 Publisher: Times Books |
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Book Reviews of the The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World
Customer Review: Interesting and Educational!
Summary: 5 Stars
Freedom House, which tracks democratic trends and elections around the globe, noted that 2007 was by far the worst year for freedom in the world since the end of the cold war. Almost four times as many states -- 38 -- declined in their freedom scores as improved -- 10.
Why is this? A big part can be explained by the recent rapid rise in oil prices. Oil wealth reduces a nation's need to obtain citizen support for its operations. At the same time, U.S. actions in Iraq, Guantanamo, within our own borders, and supporting oil-rich and/or anti-terrorism ally autocrats have tainted our efforts to promote democracy. Meanwhile, Russia, Venezuela, and others have denounced the activities of American groups within their borders as illegitimate political meddling.
"The Spirit of Democracy" points out that more than multi-party elections are required for democracy. Balanced access to media, impartial administration and dispute resolution, and independent observation are also essential. Sharing power and rule of law are essential.
Finally, Diamond sees the Internet and cell phones as strong forces that help undermine media control by autocrats, and help citizens build the foundation for democracy. He even makes the hopeful prediction that "countries like Iran and China, which now seem so immune to the global democratic trend, stand a very good chance of becoming democratic in the next two to three decades."