Exporting Democracy: Rhetoric vs. Reality

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Adopting the definition of democracy promoted by the conservative think-tank Freedom House, Schraeder (political science, Loyola U. Chicago) presents the results of a collaborative research project on international efforts of democracy promotion. Twelve chapters discuss the role of state actors (Germany, Japan, the U.S., and the Scandinavian countries) and the activities of organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and political foundations and think tanks. The nature of the definition of democracy operating in the text is perhaps indicated by the designation of the National Endowment for Democracy, recently implicated in the March 2002 coup d'<'e>tat in Venezuela, as a pro-democracy actor. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)