Democracy and Redistribution (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) - Softcover

Boix, Carles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521532671 ISBN 13: 9780521532679

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Employing analytical tools borrowed from game theory, Carles Boix offers a complete theory of political transitions. It is one in which political regimes ultimately depend on the nature of economic assets, their distribution among individuals, and the balance of power among different social groups. Backed by detailed historical research and extensive statistical analysis from the mid-nineteenth century, the study reveals why democracy emerged in classical Athens. It also covers the early triumph of democracy in nineteenth-century agrarian Norway, Switzerland and northeastern America as well as its failure in countries with a powerful landowning class.

About this title

Book Description

Employing analytical tools borrowed from game theory, Carles Boix offers a complete theory of political transitions, in which political regimes ultimately hinge on the nature of economic assets, their distribution among individuals, and the balance of power among different social groups. Backed up by detailed historical work and extensive statistical analysis that goes back to the mid-nineteenth century, this book explains, among many other things, why democracy emerged in classical Athens. It also discusses the early triumph of democracy in both nineteenth-century agrarian Norway, Switzerland and northeastern America and the failure in countries with a powerful landowning class.

Review

"...sweeping in its thematic scope. All should be stimulated by the theoretical debate. Recommended." C.H. Blake, James Madison University, CHOICE

"Anyone interested in the origins of democracy or in contemporary political economy will need to read this important work." Nicolas van de Walle, Cornell University

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521532671
• ISBN 13: 9780521532679
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284