Gordon Means traces the evolution of Islamic politics in Southeast Asia, ranging from the early arrival of Islam in the region to the challenges it generates, and faces, today. Means’s analysis encompasses the events and actions shaping Islamic politics, as well as the impact of Islamic politics on government and public policy outcomes. It also offers insightful answers to such questions    More >

Long before the September 11 attacks galvanized Western attention on what has variously been called political Islam, Islamic fundamentalism, and Islamism, African nations with sizeable Muslim populations were experiencing significant transformations in the relationship between religion and state. Political Islam in West Africa explores those ongoing transformations in key countries of the Sahel    More >

For more than a decade, policymakers and observers in the Muslim world and the West have struggled with the specter of political Islam—or "Islamic fundamentalism"—often confounded by myriad and contradictory images. This book offers a thorough, objective examination of the impact of political Islam on domestic and international politics in countries ranging from North Africa    More >

Can charismatic authority be used to further progressive politics without simultaneously doing damage? Is it possible for a movement with a charismatic leader to achieve an egalitarian society? Tracing the history of Mexico's Zapatista movement and the emergence of its controversial masked spokesman, Subcommandante Marcos, Daniela di Piramo investigates the implications of these    More >

Intrigued with the question of how societies adopt norms, institutions, and rules associated with liberal democracy, the contributors to this volume examine how political actors in Latin America reorient their behavior and attitudes to support, adapt, or acquiesce to democracy. The authors offer case studies of change in political parties in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela—countries    More >

Long dominated by authoritarian regimes, the Arab World is now experiencing a variety of factors—both internal and external—-that pose the challenge of change. Significant degrees of political liberalization have occurred already in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Kuwait, although the extent to which this presages eventual democratization is far from self-evident. Elsewhere—for    More >

Drawing on the theoretical insights offered in its companion volume, this book examines the processes of and prospects for political reform in 10 Arab countries—Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—selected to demonstrate a broad range of contexts, trajectories, and political potentials. The authors have gone beyond the traditional    More >

Political Participation in the Middle East provides essential context for understanding current political activism across the MENA region. Through an in-depth exploration of seven countries, the authors address how formal and informal political institutions create opportunities for participation in venues as varied as trade unions, civic associations, political parties, and elections. And,    More >

In the past several years, the dominance of the African National Congress (ANC) has strained South Africa's democracy and tested its institutions. Within that context, the authors of this collection offer a detailed assessment of the health of the country's political party system.     More >

Political parties typically are assumed to be essential for contemporary democratic government and governance. Why, then, has the regime change in Russia failed to produce viable political parties? Grigorii Golosov addresses this question, exploring issues central to an understanding of Russian political development. Golosov combines statistical and qualitative analysis, including case studies,    More >