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.

Democratic society and its enemies, Anthony Arblaster; enduring elite democracy in Botswana, Kenneth Good; democracy in the Commonwealth Caribbean, Paul Sutton; why Costa Rica remains a democracy, Lloyd Pettiford; the possibility of democratic consolidation in Ghana, Jeff Haynes; parties and the people - India's changing party system and the resilience of democracy, Subrata Kumar Mitra; Israel's democracy at 50 - from resilience to residue?, Clive Jones; the consolidation of democracy in Mauritius, Barbara Wake Carroll, Terrance Carroll; survival of an imperfect democracy in the Phillippines, James Putzel; political space in South East Asia - Asian-Style and Other Democracies, Kevin Hewison; Venezuela - degenerative democaracy, Julia Buxton.