Models in political science are often poorly specified prior to testing. In practice, most analysts rely on regression analysis to determine the weights for each independent variable (causal factor) identified in the model. We demonstrate a method for determining the relative weights of causal...

The conventional wisdom is that for a democracy to be consolidated, all groups must have a chance to attain power. If they do not, then they will subvert democracy and choose to fight for power. In this article, the authors show that this wisdom is seriously incomplete because it considers...

If the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern European countries under the tutelage of Moscow received some simultaneity due production chain anticommunist revolution of 1989, the same thing cannot be said about the process of democratic transition and consolidation of democracy. The...

This paper examines the reasons for the relatively low democratic support (DS) in Hong Kong in the context of competing values and choices based on the previous Asian Barometer Surveys. In so doing, it establishes a three-factor theoretical model that includes survey attitudinal statements...

The election of extreme political leaders is often associated with changes in political institutions. This paper studies these phenomena through a model in which the median voter elects a leader anticipating that he will impose institutional constraints—such as constitutional amendments,...

Formal political institutions have been assigned two roles in democratization theorizing: as contingent effects of strategic interaction and as predictable bases for democratic consolidation. These roles might be reconciled if we assume that institutions become persistent once in place. But...

Latin America is finally on the radar of Indian foreign policy-makers after decades of peripheral engagement with the region. While the China factor may have prompted this rethinking, India has its own pragmatic reasons to cultivate the Latin American countries. The reasons for Latin...

There is a general perception that Ghana has achieved remarkable success in democratic consolidation by conducting six general elections in the Fourth Republic without widespread violence since 1992. Yet, the kind of tensions and acrimony that surround her elections are issues that cannot be...

This paper presents a theory of endogenous economic institutions in non-democracies, where political accountability is enforced through the threat of revolution. We consider a dynamic game between an elite ruling class and a disenfranchised working class, in which workers have imperfect...