Democratic Transitions

de Sergio Bitar, Abraham F. Lowenthal

National leaders who played key roles in transitions to democratic governance reveal how these were accomplished in Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, and Spain. Commissioned by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), these interviews shed fascinating light on how repressive regimes were ended and democracy took hold. In probing conversations with Patricio Aylwin, Ricardo Lagos, John Kufuor, Jerry Rawlings, B J Habibie, Ernesto Zedillo, Fidel V Ramos, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, F W de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, and Felipe Gonzalez, editors Sergio Bitar and Abraham F Lowenthal focused on each leader's principal challenges and goals, as well as their strategies to end authoritarian rule and construct democratic governance.