Wow! eBook
Confronting the Weakest Link: Aiding Political Parties in New Democracies
Author(s): Thomas Carothers (Author)
- Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
- Publication Date: 1 Nov. 2006
- Language: English
- Print length: 272 pages
- ISBN-10: 0870032259
- ISBN-13: 9780870032257
Book Description
Beset with persistent problems of self-interest, corruption, ideological incoherence, and narrow electoral majorities, political parties are the weakest link in many democratic transitions around the world. A large and ever-growing number of U.S., European, and multilateral assistance programs seek to help parties become effective pro-democratic actors. But given the depth of the problems, is success possible?
Confronting the Weakest Link is a pathbreaking study of international aid for political parties. Beginning with a penetrating analysis of party shortcomings in developing and postcommunist countries, Thomas Carothers draws on extensive field research to diagnose chronic deficiencies in party aid, assess its overall impact, and offer practical ideas for doing better. This critical analysis spans Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It sheds invaluable light on a major element of the contemporary challenge of democracy building, a subject now occupying center stage in the international policy arena.
Confronting the Weakest Link is a pathbreaking study of international aid for political parties. Beginning with a penetrating analysis of party shortcomings in developing and postcommunist countries, Thomas Carothers draws on extensive field research to diagnose chronic deficiencies in party aid, assess its overall impact, and offer practical ideas for doing better. This critical analysis spans Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. It sheds invaluable light on a major element of the contemporary challenge of democracy building, a subject now occupying center stage in the international policy arena.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“The first systematic, independent assessment of the burgeoning field of international aid to political parties. Carothers’ masterful, searching account is critical and sobering, yet also sympathetic and constructive.” ―Larry Diamond, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
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“A timely, original study… Carothers goes well beyond the standard laments and prescriptions about the troubled state of political parties in the world to offer new insights and approaches that will stir scholars and provoke practitioners.” ―Christopher Sabatini, American Society/Council of the Americas
About the Author
Thomas Carothers is vice president for international politics and governance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C., USA, and founder and director of the Endowment’s Democracy and Rule of Law Project.
