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Alexander Gerard Cornell University Press,Ithaca,2002,288pp.
ISBN: 0801439477
$45.00 (hardback ).
This book provides a meticulous examination of the various paths to democratic consolidation of five West European countries. It proposes a new theoretical framework for analyzing important regime changes in 20th century Western Europe, including the eventual convergence towards democratic consolidation. The author's focus on Western Europe may be called daring in a time seemingly characterized by trust in the perpetual life of democracy in that region and growing academic attention to new democracies. Although Alexander essentially rules out democratic breakdown in current Western Europe, his framework does allow for such unanticipated events as those having occurred in interwar Spain and France. Furthermore, Alexander's general theory of democratization in Western Europe connects historical developments often studied in isolation, and may offer valuable clues about how democracy in Third Wave countries could evolve.
The book is structured into two parts. The first three chapters are dedicated to the development of the theoretical framework, chapters four to eight to testing the framework in five case studies. The author adopts a rational choice argument in order to explain why and when European democracies consolidated, as well as what caused some of these democracies to deconsolidate again. Alexander explicitly takes issue with established theories that stress the vital role of pacts, high-stakes institutions, international demonstration effects, or Zeitgeist for democratic consolidation. People in Alexander's view 'are neither born nor made democrats, but choose democracy' (p. 7). The essential incentive for individuals to opt for democracy or authoritarianism is the expected effect of a particular regime choice in terms of their safety and well-being.
The main question Alexander seeks to answer is: 'Under what conditions will outcome-oriented actors form pro-democratic or pro-authoritarian regime preferences?' (p. 26). Since the author attributes most explanatory power to the regime preferences of Europe's political right this question may be narrowed down to: Under what conditions will the right form pro-democratic or pro-authoritarian preferences? This focus on the right -- or actually Europe's conservatives -- is justified with the argument that their basic preferences in terms of personal safety, maintenance of existing private property claims and income, orthodox fiscal policy, remained relatively stable. These factors are kept constant in the model -- and are...