Democracy building and democracy erosion : political change north and south of the Mediterranean / edited by Eberhard Kienle.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Eberhard Kienle -- Assessing Political Regimes: What Typologies and Measurements Tell Us - and What They Don't / Oliver Schlumberger -- Constitutionalism vs. 'Fiqhism': The Evolution and Limits of the Rule of Law in Morocco / Mohamed Mouaqit -- 'Modernising' Political Parties: The National Democratic Party in Egypt on the Path of British New Labour? / Virginie Collombier -- Judicial Activism North and South of the Mediterranean / Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid -- Deceptive Liberal Reforms: Institutional Adjustments and the Dynamics of Authoritarianism in Tunisia (1997-2005) / Eric Gobe -- The European Reform Agenda for Palestine: Democratising a Polity or Marginalising Political Actors? / Isabel Schafer -- Comparative De-Democratisation: Backsliding in the West, Sinking in the South / Robert Springborg -- Absent Transitions from Authoritarianism in the South or Erosion of Democracy on a Global Scale? / Eberhard Kienle -- Authoritarian Islands in Pluralist Democracies / Gilles Massardier -- Challenges to Established Democracies: The Italian Example / Marc Lazar -- How Do Regimes Work? Formal Rules and Informal Mechanisms in Middle Eastern Politics / Holger Albrecht

Favouring transitions to democracy on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean was a key objective of the European Union and its member states when they prepared the Barcelona conference in 1995. But European Neighbourhood policies have failed to promote democracy. While the authors remain sensitive to changes that ultimately may translate into greater participation and respect for civil liberty, they also set out to explain why certain short-term goals of the EU are undermining its democratic principles. However, the crucial question - especially after 9/11 - is whether the erosion of democracy in the North has affected the promotion of democracy in the South. Failure of democracy in the South may well be linked to the erosion of democracy on a global scale.