Democracy, Market Economy and the Management of Transformation

Pre-print versions of the regional reports written for the Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006 have now been published as a special issue of STRATEGIC INSIGHTS. Produced by the Center for Contemporary Conflict at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, STRATEGIC INSIGHTS is a monthly electronic journal offering timely, concise assessments of U.S. and international security issues.

The contributions to this special issue fall into three categories: the first article on The Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006 describes the aim, approach, and methodology of the BTI. Furthermore, it provides a concise overview of the main findings of the BTI 2006 along three research questions: what is the status of transformation toward democracy in the 119 countries reviewed? What are the major trends of market-economic transformation? How have political elites and decision-makers managed these transformations?

In the second part, this issue collects seven regional chapters, describing and analyzing the management of political and economic transformation in Asia, Central and West Africa, East and South Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the CIS, and the Middle East and North Africa. Each report provides an overview on the state, trajectory, and management of the transformation processes in these regions. The aim of those chapters is to provide academics, students, policy-makers and journalists with a brief and concise overview of the regional patterns, trends, and achievements of democratization and economic development. It is based on the results of the BTI 2006 survey and the underlying country assessments which analyze each individual country in detail.

In the third part of this issue, two articles deal with specific aspects of democratic and economic transformation. In an attempt to explore the options for institutional reform in "defective democracies," Martin Brusis and Peter Thiery address the important question of how electoral reforms, the organization of public administrations and the system of government impact on the prospects of establishing viable and effective democracies. The last contribution by Aurel Croissant synthesizes the findings of the BTI 2006 concerning political violence and extremism in the 119 countries reviewed and the relationship between democratization and development and political violence.

A Strategic Insights Special Edition

The Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006
Current Issue: Volume IV, Issue 12 (December 2005
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/index-december.asp

Introductory Observations

Introduction to the Special Issue: Democracy, Market Economy, and the Political Management of Transformation in 119 Countries: The Findings of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, by Aurel Croissant
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/croissant1Dec05.asp

The Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006: On the Way to Democracy and Market-Economy, by Olaf Hillenbrand and Peter Thiery
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/hillenbrandDec05.asp

Regional Case Studies

Differential Patterns of Consolidation in View of European Union Membership: East-Central and Southeast Europe, by Martin Brusis
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/brusisDec05.asp

Divergent Trends of Transformation to Democracy and Market Economy: The Commonwealth of Independent States and Mongolia, by Sabine Donner and Bernd Kuzmits
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/donnerDec05.asp

Uncertain Prospects of Transformation: The Middle East and North Africa, by Felix Neugart
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/neugartDec05.asp

Democracy without Development? Unbalanced Transformations in Eastern and Southern Africa, by Siegmar Schmidt
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/schmidtDec05.asp

Stagnation on Low Levels: Political and Economic Transformation in Central and West Africa, by Matthias Basedau
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/basedauDec05.asp

A Region Divided: Transformation towards Democracy and Market Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean, by Peter Thiery
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/thieryDec05.asp

Can You Have One without the Other? Transformation towards Market Economy and Democracy in Asia and Oceania, by Aurel Croissant
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/croissant2Dec05.asp

Concluding Observations

Defects of Democracy and Options for Institutional Reform, by Martin Brusis and Peter Thiery
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/brusis2Dec05.asp

Regime Change and Violence: Political Violence, Extremism, and the Transformation to Democracy and Market Economy—Findings of the Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2006, by Aurel Croissant
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/2005/Dec/croissant3Dec05.asp