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Learning Democracy: Citizen Engagement and Electoral Choice in Nicaragua, 1990-2001

Learning Democracy: Citizen Engagement and Electoral Choice in Nicaragua, 1990-2001
By Leslie E. Anderson, Lawrence C. Dodd

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One of the books I sed for my Spring ’08 Latin American politics course; a fascinating public-opinion driven analysis of democratization in Nicaragua.

Product Description

Historically, Nicaragua has been mired in poverty and political conflict, yet the country has become a model for the successful emergence of democracy in a developing nation. Learning Democracy tells the story of how Nicaragua overcame an authoritarian government and American interventionism by engaging in an electoral revolution that solidified its democratic self-governance.

By analyzing nationwide surveys conducted during the 1990, 1996, and 2001 Nicaraguan presidential elections, Leslie E. Anderson and Lawrence C. Dodd provide insight into one of the most unexpected and intriguing recent advancements in third world politics. They offer a balanced account of the voting patterns and forward-thinking decisions that led Nicaraguans to first support the reformist Sandinista revolutionaries only to replace them with a conservative democratic regime a few years later. Addressing issues largely unexamined in Latin American studies, Learning Democracy is a unique and probing look at how the country's mass electorate moved beyond revolutionary struggle to establish a more stable democratic government by realizing the vital role of citizens in democratization processes.
"This is a work that makes the reader a better political scientist, telling a fine story in the process. Steeped in the voting behavior literature as it has developed during the last half-century in the United States, Learning Democracy also offers broader lessons having to do with how individuals struggle to make decisions when institutions are developing. A classic of how to do electoral analysis through time and polls, this book is likely to  likely to include people interested in voting behavior, democratic development, Latin American politics, and decision-making. It will serve as a model of how to do comparative research."--Bryan D. Jones, author of Politics and the Architecture of Choice

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #70510 in Books
  • Published on: 2005-05-09
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 336 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review
"This path-breaking book reveals the enormous political capacity of common citizens to exercise informed democratic choices, even, or perhaps especially, in the most demanding of circumstances. The book''s findings resonate with democratic experiences not only in Latin America, but also across much of Africa."--Anne Pitcher, author of Transforming Mozambique (Anne Pitcher )

"Learning Democracy makes a powerful and convincing argument that the electorate in Nicaragua over the 1990-2001 period made a deliberate, reasoned choice as it confronted three different presidential elections. This is a landmark work in the area of analyzing vote choice in a Latin American democratizing context on the basis of extensive survey data."--Jonathan Hartlyn, author of The Struggle for Democratic Politics in the Dominican Republic (Jonathan Hartlyn )

"This is a work that makes the reader a better political scientist, telling a fine story in the process. Steeped in the voting behavior literature as it has developed during the last half-century in the U.S., Learning Democracy also offers broader lessons having to do with how individuals struggle to make decisions when institutions are developing. A classic of how to do electoral analysis through time and polls, this book''s audience is likely to include people interested in voting behavior, democratic development, Latin American politics, and decision-making. It will serve as a model of how to do comparative research."--Bryan D. Jones, coauthor of Politics and the Architecture of Choice (Bryan D. Jones )

"An insightful analysis which makes a significant contribution to the study of democratisation in developing countries."-Salvador Marti Puig, Latin American Studies (Salvador Marti I Puig Latin American Studies )

"A noble attempt to apply democratic voting theories honed by political scientists who studied U.S. voting behavior to a very different reality in Nicaragua." (Harry E. Vanden Latin American Politics and Society )

"I can hardly exaggerate my sense of the importance of this book''s conclusions, not only for political scientists and others concerned with understanding transitions to democracy, but for policy makers as well. Learning Democracy is strikingly original and more hopeful than most interpretations and forecasts."--Robert A. Dahl, author of On Democracy (Robert A. Dahl )

About the Author

Leslie E. Anderson is associate professor of political science at the University of Florida. She is the author of The Political Economy of the Modern Peasant. Lawrence C. Dodd is the Manning J. Dauer Eminent Scholar Chair in Political Science at the University of Florida. He is the author of Coalitions in Parliamentary Government and coeditor of seven editions of Congress Reconsidered.