The recent wave of democratic transitions in Latin America, Eastern and Central Europe, the Pacific Rim and elsewhere is producing revolutionary changes in the political structures and political life of many nations. The events have forced social scientists to rethink our ideas about political change and to reconsider the lessons of earlier academic debates about the social, cultural, and economic contexts in which Democracy can take root. This award supports a series of faculty/student workshops that will examine alternative theoretical models as they apply to the lessons of democracy and democratization. The workshop will bring together some of the leading scholars in the field and provide an intense training experience for the next generation of scholars interested in these most important topics.
