By Manuel J. Ayulo, second year student of the Democracy and Governance Program at Georgetown University
Citing the philosopher W.B. Gallie, Collier and Levitsky remained us that democracy is “the appraisive political concept par excellence”.[1] They are right. In Latin America, democracy continues to be a contested concept. Although the vast majority of the countries are not considered authoritarian, that doesn’t imply that they share or value a homogenous concept of democracy.
By Sundar Ramanujam, alumni of the Democracy and Governance Program at Georgetown University
In the classic essay that he wrote on the challenges of transition theory for Philippe Schmitter & Guillermo O’Donnell’s Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, Przeworski presents a rational-choice driven framework to explain the mechanics of democracy [1].
By Dr. Daniel Brumberg, Director of the Democracy and Governance Program at Georgetown University
(continues from part 2…)
What then is to be done? What can we, students and faculty in this country’s only full Masters program in Democracy and Governance Studies, do in the face of these challenges, and the potentially massive political change happening on our own doorstep? I honestly am not sure, but I would offer, at least to get the discussion started, a few ideas.
By Dr. Daniel Brumberg, Director of the Democracy and Governance Program at Georgetown University
(continues from part 1…)
On the question of understanding, I would suggest that the current political crisis is a consequence of a perfect storm of several factors and events, many of which you are familiar with. They include but are not limited to the following three factors:
democracyandsociety.net 