Politicising Democracy: The New Local Politics of Democratisation(International Political Economy Series)

There is a major contradiction in contemporary politics: despite a wave of democratisation that has swept across much of the world, globalisation appears to have reduced those forces that have encouraged democracy historically. Democratic aspirations may well founder upon local political realities. But there is another side to all of this that is still little understood. As the social forces that have supplied the basis for democratisation in the past have become weaker, so other forms of organisation have grown up. A variety of new social movements and of voluntary associations, often operating locally and in neighbourhoods, seem to have become more powerful, and to provide the basis for more substantial democracy than we have know hitherto. The chapters in this book, by an international group of authors, analyse the kinds of development and of governance that are emerging in developing countries, as different actors are confronted with structural changes and institutional reforms that generate new and widened local political spaces. Are they really constructing more substantial democracy?

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The New Local Politics of Democratisation; J.Harriss, K.Stokke & O.Tornquist Decentralisation in Indonesia: Less State, More Democracy?; H.S.Nordholt Bossism and Democracy in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia: Towards an Alternative Framework for the Study of 'Local Strongmen'; J.T.Sidel Can Public Deliberation Democratise State Action? Municipal Health Councils and Local Democracy in Brazil; G.Schonleitner Historical Hurdles in the Course of the People's Planning Campaign in Kerala, India; P.K.M.Tharakan Social Movements, Socio-Economic Rights and Substantial Democratisation in South Africa; K.Stokke & S.Oldfield More Than Difficult, Short of Impossible: Party Building and Local Governance in the Philippines; J.Rocamora Trade Unions, Institutional Reform and Democracy: Nigerian Experiences with South African and Ugandan Comparisons; B.Beckman The Political Deficit of Substantial Democratisation; O.Tornquist

About the Author :
JOHN HARRISS is Professor of Development Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. His research now focuses on politics and political economy, with particular reference to India. He is the author, with Stuart Corbridge, of Reinventing India: Economic Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and Popular Democracy, and of Depoliticizing Development: the World Bank and Social Capital. KRISTIAN STOKKE is Professor in Human Geography at the University of Oslo, Norway. His research focuses on social movement politics and democratization in South Africa and ethno-nationalist conflicts and post-conflict political transformations in Sri Lanka. OLLE TA-RNQUIST is Professor of Political Science and Development Research, University of Oslo, Norway. He has published extensively on politics and development, radical politics, and problems of democratization in comparative perspective. His recent books include Politics and Development: A Critical Introduction, Popular Development and Democracy: Case Studies in the Philippines, Indonesia and Kerala, and Indonesia's Post-Soeharto Democracy Movement (with S.Adi Prasetyo & E.A.Priyono).