Timely lessons from Colombia on the coexistence of civil democracy and political violence in the context of international affairs and institutional reform
Colombia has one of the oldest electoral democracies in the Western Hemisphere despite endemic political violence. In this long-awaited, indispensable study, author Steven Taylor argues that understanding of Colombia’s political development in turn requires understanding the evolution of its political parties and its electoral rules. This book deals both with the specifics of the Colombian case and with questions concerning how electoral reform and institutional change interact with the behavior of political actors. Broader implications for the study of civil democracy in an atmosphere of political violence around the world today are clear and have never been more relevant.
"As both a long-standing electoral democracy and a major recipient of US aid, Colombia deserves to be far better understood by academics, politicians, the media, and the public than is the case. Taylor's overview of the evolution of Colombian democracy reaches a cautiously optimistic conclusion: recent reforms have opened up the Colombian electoral process to wider citizen participation, which, in turn, is a crucial prerequisite to any resolution of the country's deep social problems. Taylor's book is the best in many years on this important country’s politics.”—Matthew S. Shugart, Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego
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STEVEN L. TAYLOR is associate professor of Political Science at Troy University and is an expert on Colombian politics.
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