Democratization Theory and Nontransitions: Insights from Cuba

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Democratization theories and empirical studies have been slow to incorporate cases of nontransition. Good research design requires such cases, In the absence of negative cases the factors thought to contribute to democratization have multiplied, and it has not been possible to weed out less useful hypotheses. This article examines five prominent democratization hypotheses in the key nontransition case of Cuba. Agent-oriented hypotheses focusing on soft-liners and opposition groups better explain the Cuban nontransition than structural factors such as socioeconomic development, economic crisis, and the international environment. Cuba illustrates the need for further research on nontransitions and suggests reasons for the absence of democratizing actors in some authoritarian regimes.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: