Sign up to receive email newsletters about the
latest research for the topic areas that
interest you.
Ebb Tide of Freedom?: The Future of Democracy
Publication Date: January 2008
Publisher(s): Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Author(s): Niall Ferguson
Series: Hoover Digest
Topic: Human rights (Civil and political rights)
Keywords: Democracy
Type: Report
Abstract:
After riding high on the wave of democracy that began with the 1989 fall of the Berlin wall, the recent events on nearly every continent unsettle those who dream of a world governed by the ballot box rather than the bullet. There is no reason that Democracy should not be possible in any of the world’s civilizations; however, it can (and probably must) be a protracted process. And that is precisely why it would be rash, after a few bad years, to prophesy the death of democracy—as rash as it was to predict its triumph after a few good ones.