Archive / Working Paper
Hybrid regimes or regimes in transition?
30/09/2008 By Leonardo Morlino
In recent times, growing interest in democratisation and the development of associated research has aroused considerable interest in the more specific theme of the spread of hybrid or ‘transitional’ regimes.
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This Working Paper outlines the quantitative terms of democratisation; pinpoints the pertinent analytic dimensions, starting with definitions of the terms ‘regime’, ‘authoritarianism’ and ‘democracy’; defines a ‘hybrid regime’; proposes a typology of hybrid regimes; and, finally, tries to answer the key question posed in the title.
As becomes clear, this question is not only closely bound up with prospects for change in the nations that have such ambiguous forms of political organisation, but also, more generally, with the spread of democratisation. The main findings of the Working Paper point to the need to ensure the existence of institutions largely capable of performing their functions and to the potentially strong role of governments and international organisations in helping to build state institutions, even prior to the establishment of democracies.
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Keywords
Civil society Democratic control Democratisation Hybrid RegimesBio author: Leonardo Morlino
Leonardo Morlino, professor of Political Science at the Scienze Umane in Florence (Italia).
