44. Comparative Democratization

Michele Penner Angrist, Union College, angristm@union.edu

This year’s section welcomes papers which make novel contributions to the longstanding debates about the causes and nature of democratic and non-democratic regime change. In keeping with the theme of the 2008 meetings, the section is especially interested in papers relating the subject of democratization to catergories and inequality. Ideally these papers might, 1) challenge our past focus on the democratization of states and focus on new categories of government, including, the democratization of civic associations, international organizations, universities and local and regional governments 2) investigate how movements promoting regime change negotiate and renegotiate social categories 3)ask how different categories of local, national and international institutions affect the outcome of democratization and, most importantly, 4) how democratization and other forms of regime change affect inequalities of various sorts. When and how are those with fewest resources empowered by democracy? When are their lives left largely unaffected?  Papers in any of these broad areas and indeed any innovative work that crosses the boundaries that have constrained us in the past will be most welcome.