Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 Democracy Goes into Reverse p. 1 2 How We Got Here p. 34 3 The Fourth Wave p. 49 4 It's the Economy, Stupid: The Consensus Fails p. 65 5 The Middle Class Revolts p. 77 6 Graft, Graft, and More Graft p. 101 7 The China Model p. 117 8 The Autocrats Strike Back p. 135 9 Failure of the Emerging Powers p. 153 10 Failure of the West p. 170 11 Prescriptions for the Future p. 199 Appendix: Egypt p. 237 Notes p. 241 Index p. 275

Since the end of the Cold War, the assumption among most political theorists has been that as nations develop economically, they will also become more democratic--especially if a vibrant middle class takes root. This assumption underlies the expansion of the European Union and much of American foreign policy, bolstered by such examples as South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and even to some extent Russia. Where democratization has failed or retreated, aberrant conditions take the blame: Islamism, authoritarian Chinese influence, or perhaps the rise of local autocrats. But what if the failures of democracy are not exceptions? In this thought-provoking study of democratization, Joshua Kurlantzick proposes that the spate of retreating democracies, one after another over the past two decades, is not just a series of exceptions. Instead, it reflects a new and disturbing trend: democracy in worldwide decline. The author investigates the state of democracy in a variety of countries, why the middle class has turned against democracy in some cases, and whether the decline in global democratization is reversible.