Authoritarianism and Democracy in Europe, 1919-39 offers a comprehensive analysis of the survival or breakdown of democracy in interwar Europe. The contributors explore factors such as the historical, social-structural and political-cultural backgrounds of the policies that European countries attempted to implement to counter the world economic crisis of 1929. The analysis serves as an important backdrop for the assessment of current democratic developments in former communist Europe and highlights some of the problems and risks involved in the transition process.

Autorentext
GISÈLE DE MEUR Professor, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium STEPHEN FISCHER-GALATI Professor Emeritus, Bradenton, USA JERZY HOLZER Professor, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland LAURI KARVONEN Professor, Department of Comparative Politics, Abo Academy, Finland GERHARD KÜMMEL Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Bundeswehr, Strausberg, Germany SVEN QUENTER Former Research Assistant, Institute of Political Science, Marburg, Germany THOMAS SAALFELD Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, Canterbury JOHN D. STEPHENS Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill MARCO TARCHI Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Florence, Italy MARK R. THOMPSON Professor, Universität Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany ALLAN ZINK Former Research Assistant, Institute of Political Science, Marburg, Germany

Inhalt
List of Tables List of Figures Notes on the Contributors Preface PART I Introduction: D.Berg-Schlosser PART II: HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND The Heritage of the First World War; J.Holzer Building Nations and Crafting Democracies; M.Thompson Social Structural Dynamics; J.D.Stephens & G.Kümmel Sources of Authoritarianism in Eastern and Southeastern Europe; S.Fischer-Galati PART III: THE SOCIAL ARENA: MAJOR FORCES AND ACTORS Organized Interests and their Patterns of Interaction; A.Zink The Role of Fascist (and Similar) Movements; M.Tarchi PART IV: THE POLITICAL ARENA Electoral Systems, Party System Fragmentation and Government Instability; L.Karvonen & S.Quenter Political Institutions and Political Stability; J.Mitchell External Factors; G.Kümmel The Impact of the World Economic Crisis and Political Reactions; T.Saalfeld PART V: OVERALL COMPARISONS AND DYNAMIC ANALYSES Systematic Matching and Contrasting of Cases; G.De Meur & D.Berg-Schlosser Reduction of Complexity; D.Berg-Schlosser & G.De Meur Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Analysis; D.Berg-Schlosser PART VI: CONCLUSIONS Implications for Theories of Democracy; D.Berg-Schlosser Appendix Bibliography Index