Promoting Polyarchy Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony [Paperback]

Contoversial expos? of US policy towards democracy in the Third World.Arguing that U.S. policy upholds the undemocratic status quo of Third World countries behind a facade, this study addresses the theoretical and historical issues at stake. It uncovers a wealth of information from field work and hitherto unpublished government documents.Arguing that U.S. policy upholds the undemocratic status quo of Third World countries behind a facade, this study addresses the theoretical and historical issues at stake. It uncovers a wealth of information from field work and hitherto unpublished government documents.Promoting Polyarchy is an exciting, detailed and controversial work on the apparent change in US foreign policy from supporting dictatorships to promoting democratic regimes. William I. Robinson argues that behind this facade, US policy upholds the undemocratic status quo of Third World countries. He addresses the theoretical and historical issues at stake, and uncovers a wealth of information from field work and hitherto unpublished government documents. Promoting Polyarchy is an essential book for anyone concerned with democracy, globalization and international affairs.Introduction: from East-West to North-South: US intervention in the 'new world order'; 1. From 'straight power concepts' to 'persuasion' in US foreign policy; 2. Political operations in US foreign policy; 3. The Philippines: 'molded in the image of American democracy'; 4. Chile: ironing out a 'Fluke' of the political system; 5. Nicaragua: from low-intensity warfare to low-intensity democracy; 6. Haiti: the 'practically insolvable problem' of establishing consensual domination; 7. Conclusions: the future of polyarchy and global society. This book represents an original, compelling and critical rethinking of the nature and form of United States foreign policy in the Third World 1980s and 1990s. Robinson has developed his own theoretical framework and synthesis drawn from comparative political socioll³D