This book, a tour de force from an expert who clearly knows his field well, is one that goes out of its way to make us think about what we understand by "democracy" and how we should view new manifestations in the "Third World". Not only is its conceptual and geographical scope admirably broad, but its familiar attention to the details of political participation are excellent, and, by taking a firm stance, the author forces us to address issues which are all too often taken for granted and left unquestioned.
