History Commons^™

Joyce Apsel On Peace: A History Of Movements And Ideas. By David Cortright. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 376pp., Joyce Apsel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas. By David Cortright. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 376pp.

Ruling With Rules: Electoral Institutions And Authoritarian Resilience In The Middle East, Andrew Barwig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What explains the resilience of authoritarian regimes in the face of regular competitive elections that ostensibly should promote democratic transitions? This dissertation examines both why and how parliamentary elections in Jordan and Morocco have served to reinforce these two Arab monarchies. In doing so, it develops a framework in which the degree of cohesion among incumbent and opposition elites shape electoral system design and, in turn, particular electoral rules structure mass political attitudes and elite configurations. The main argument is that lower electoral thresholds generate unique electoral environments in which patronage politics thrive and opposition-based politics falter, thus producing a …