Introduction. "Contested Democracy": A Critical Evaluation
Résumé
The dissent and uprisings which spread through the Arab world during the Spring of 2011 occurred almost a quarter of a century after the fall of East European political regimes which saw the rise of “democracy” modelled on the Anglo-American representative system. This specific context, which has come to characterize the past quarter of century, calls for a renewed analysis of the models these political systems represent and of the processes that triggered them and led to their long-term establishment in the UK and the US. As a response to the story of the inevitable emergence of democracy in the aftermath of the Cold War, researchers have provided an alternative reading of events: that of a “contested democracy.” [...]