Iluzii despre consolidarea democraţiei
Illusions about the Consolidation of Democracy

Summary/Abstract: The general optimism that followed the third wave of democratization was grounded in the unilinear, stadial notion of democratic consolidation: once the transition is completed, there can be only one way of political development in the new democracies that is, towards the model of the advanced Western societies. In fact, such optimism is unwarranted. Undemocratic games are possible within the formal democratic frameworks, especially in societies with clientelar/particularistic traditions. Vicious equilibria in which the lack of accountability and undemocratic practices can coexist with formal democratic rules are stable in the long run.

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