"If the past is any guide, many of the new 'Third Wave' democracies can be expected to fall by the wayside. Moreover, a significant part of the world's peoples do not enjoy democratic government. This volume brings together studies of many of the small number of previously established states that have retained and/or restored democracy despite - in many cases - formidable economic, social or political challenges. It seeks to establish common themes, whether or not they appear to fit a grand causal theory."--Jacket.