Non-democratic regimes / [Book] / Paul Brooker.

Non-democratic regimes have dominated much of world history and continue to play a major role in world affairs. Despite widespread challenges to authoritarianisms in recent decades, from the fall of Communism to the Arab Spring, the twenty-first century seems destined to be a 'democratic age' more in theory than in practice, as many so-called new democracies become partly authoritarian, hybrid regimes or even democratically disguised dictatorships. In this substantially revised and updated third edition of the leading text in the field, Paul Brooker provides a comprehensive analysis of the various types of non-democratic regimes. The opening chapter examines how the leading theorists have sought to explain and categorize non-democratic regimes. The core of the book adopts a thematic approach that answers such key questions as how ruling monarchies continue to survive, how and why military party or personal dictatorships emerge, how a new dictatorship consolidates its rule, and how dictatorships make and implement policy. The final chapters look at the recent evolution of dictatorships, including how some have succumbed to democratization and how others have utilized a democratic façade. Book jacket.

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