The Best Chance for Democratic Success: The Role of Well-Organized Actors and External Support

Abstract

Abstract Popular Politics and the Path to Durable Democracy makes a compelling case for the importance of well-organized and lengthy popular mobilization movements in contributing to lasting democracy. Through a mixed-methods approach, Mohammad Ali Kadivar draws a correlation between length of a mobilization and electoral democracy. However, his analysis is incomplete, and he fails to account for several important factors, most particularly the role of external actors in supporting (or harming) a democratic transition. And he fails to explain the large variance in his findings—why some of the most well-consolidated democracies lasting a half a century also have some of the shortest periods of mobilization, while some of the most repressive countries had lengthy mobilization periods leading up to their failed transitions.