Larry Diamond
Mosbacher Senior Fellow of Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor, by courtesy, of Sociology and of Political Science
Bio
Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) at Stanford University. He also chairs the Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and is the principal investigator of the Global Digital Policy Incubator, part of Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center. For more than six years, he directed FSI’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, where he now leads its Program on Arab Reform and Democracy. During 2017–18, he cochaired, with Orville Schell, a working group formed of researchers from Hoover and from the Asia Society Center on US-China Relations, culminating in the report China’s Influence and American Interests: Promoting Constructing Vigilance (published by the Hoover Institution Press in 2019). He is the founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy and also serves as senior consultant at the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Diamond’s research focuses on democratic trends and conditions around the world and on policies and reforms to defend and advance democracy. His latest book, Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency, analyzes the challenges confronting liberal democracy in the United States and around the world at this potential “hinge in history,” and offers an agenda for strengthening and defending democracy at home and abroad.
Diamond is professor by courtesy of Political Science and Sociology at Stanford University, where he teaches courses on democracy and American foreign policy. He is currently offering Comparative Democratic Development as a massive open online course (MOOC) on the edX platform.
During 2002–03, Diamond served as a consultant to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and was a contributing author of its report Foreign Aid in the National Interest. He has also advised and lectured to universities and think tanks around the world, and to the World Bank, the United Nations, the State Department, and other governmental and nongovernmental agencies dealing with governance and development. During the first three months of 2004, Diamond served as a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. His 2005 book, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, was one of the first books to critically analyze America's postwar engagement in Iraq.
Diamond’s other books include In Search of Democracy (2016), The Spirit of Democracy (2008), Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (1999), Promoting Democracy in the 1990s (1995), and Class, Ethnicity, and Democracy in Nigeria (1989). He has also edited or coedited some fifty books on democratic development around the world. Among them are Democracy in Decline? (2016); Democratization and Authoritarianism in the Arab World (2014); Will China Democratize? (2013); and Liberation Technology: Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy (2012), all edited with Marc F. Plattner; and Politics and Culture in Contemporary Iran (2015), with Abbas Milani. With Juan J. Linz and Seymour Martin Lipset he edited the four-volume series Democracy in Developing Countries (1988–89), which helped to shape a new generation of comparative study of democratic development.
Diamond writes a monthly column for the American Interest and frequently writes, speaks, and consults about how to defend and reform liberal democracy
He received all of his degrees from Stanford University, including a B.A. in 1974, an M.A. in 1978, and a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1980. He taught Sociology at Vanderbilt University from 1980-85.
Academic Appointments
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Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
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Hoover Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
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Professor (By courtesy), Political Science
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Professor (By courtesy), Sociology
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Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
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Faculty Affiliate, Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)
Honors & Awards
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Teacher of the Year Award, Associated Students of Stanford University (May 2007)
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Kenneth M. Cuthbertson Award for Exceptional Service to Stanford University, Stanford University (June 2016)
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Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (June 2007)
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POSCO Visiting Fellow, East-West Center, Honolulu (August 1999)
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Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, Visiting Lecturer in Sociology at Bayero University, Kano (1982-83)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Member, Board of Directors, Voices of a Democratic Egypt (2008 - Present)
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Member, Board of Directors, Council for a Community of Democracies (2006 - Present)
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Member, Advisory Commission on Voluntary Foreign Aid (U.S. Agency for International Development) (2004 - 2007)
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Member, Stanford University Task Force on Student Mental Health and Well-Being (2006 - 2008)
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Member, Faculty Advisory Board, Haas Center for Public Service (2007 - Present)
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Member, Board of Directors, Hillel at Stanford (2004 - Present)
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Member, Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Reform in the Arab World (2004 - 2005)
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Member, Faculty Steering Committee, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University (2003 - 2006)
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Consultant, U.S. Agency for International Development (2001 - 2003)
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Member, Executive Board, Society for Comparative Research (1997 - 2002)
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Member of the Editorial Board, Current History (2000 - Present)
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Member, Editorial Board, India Review (2001 - Present)
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Member, International Advisory Board, International Human Rights Consortium, Center On Rights Development, Denver University (2001 - Present)
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Co-coordinator, Democratization Seminar, Institute for International Studies, Stanford University (1994 - 2002)
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Co-coordinator, U.S. and World Affairs Seminar, Hoover Institution (1990 - 2003)
Program Affiliations
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Center for East Asian Studies
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Center for Human Rights and International Justice
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Iranian Studies
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Program in International Relations
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Public Policy
Professional Education
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Ph.D., Stanford University, Sociology (1980)
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M.A., Stanford University, Food Research Institute (1978)
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B.A., Stanford University, Political Organization and Behavior (1974)
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
democratic development and regime change; U.S. foreign policy affecting democracy abroad; comparative trends in the quality and stability of democracy in developing countries and postcommunist states; and public opinion in new democracies, especially in East Asia
Projects
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Taiwan Democracy Project, Stanford University
Location
Taiwan
2024-25 Courses
- Human Rights, Information Integrity, and Democratic Values in a Digitized World
INTLPOL 263 (Win) - The Spirit of Democracy
COLLEGE 110 (Spr) -
Independent Studies (16)
- Curricular Practical Training
SOC 392 (Aut, Win, Spr) - DDRL Independent Study-Work with Adviser
DDRL 191 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Directed Reading
INTLPOL 299 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in Comparative Politics
POLISCI 249 (Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in International Relations
POLISCI 219 (Spr) - Directed Reading and Research in Political Methodology
POLISCI 259 (Spr) - Graduate Directed Reading
EASTASN 300 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Graduate Directed Research
SOC 391 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Graduate Individual Study
SOC 390 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Honors Thesis
POLISCI 299C (Win) - Research Internship
SOC 395 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Senior Thesis
INTNLREL 198 (Aut) - Senior Thesis
SOC 196 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Undergraduate Directed Research
SOC 191 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Undergraduate Individual Study
SOC 190 (Aut, Win, Spr) - Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship
SOC 192 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Curricular Practical Training
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Prior Year Courses
2023-24 Courses
- America in One Room: Research Practicum
COMM 138A, COMM 238A (Spr) - Human Rights, Information Integrity, and Democratic Values in a Digitized World
INTLPOL 263 (Win) - The Spirit of Democracy
COLLEGE 110 (Spr)
2022-23 Courses
- Comparative Democratic Development
POLISCI 147 (Win) - The Spirit of Democracy
COLLEGE 110 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- PRACTICAL TRAINING
INTNLREL 189 (Sum) - Public Service and Social Impact: Pathways to Purposeful Careers
CSRE 190A, ENGLISH 180, POLISCI 74B, PUBLPOL 75B, SOC 190A, SYMSYS 193, URBANST 190A (Win) - The Spirit of Democracy
THINK 51 (Aut)
- America in One Room: Research Practicum
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Young Jee Kim -
Master's Program Advisor
Leticia Lie, Ben Limric
All Publications
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Democracy's Arc: From Resurgent to Imperiled
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2022; 33 (1): 163-179
View details for Web of Science ID 000744433500013
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Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society (Book Review)
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2021; 32 (2): 179-183
View details for Web of Science ID 000640102300013
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Democratic regression in comparative perspective: scope, methods, and causes
DEMOCRATIZATION
2020
View details for DOI 10.1080/13510347.2020.1807517
View details for Web of Science ID 000569247600001
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Demography and the Future of Democracy
PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICS
2020; 18 (3): 867–80
View details for DOI 10.1017/S1537592719005000
View details for Web of Science ID 000566984800013
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BREAKING OUT OF THE DEMOCRATIC SLUMP
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2020; 31 (1): 36–50
View details for Web of Science ID 000507373100004
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Democracy Demotion How the Freedom Agenda Fell Apart
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2019; 98 (4): 17–25
View details for Web of Science ID 000470802100003
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THE THREAT OF POSTMODERN TOTALITARIANISM
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2019; 30 (1): 20–24
View details for DOI 10.1353/jod.2019.0001
View details for Web of Science ID 000455213500002
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Deliberative polling for multistakeholder internet governance: considered judgments on access for the next billion
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY
2018; 21 (11): 1541–54
View details for DOI 10.1080/1369118X.2017.1340497
View details for Web of Science ID 000436970900002
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Democracy in Decline How Washington Can Reverse the Tide
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2016; 95 (4): 151-159
View details for Web of Science ID 000377637500017
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FACING UP TO THE DEMOCRATIC RECESSION
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2015; 26 (1): 141-155
View details for Web of Science ID 000348693100012
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The Next Democratic Century
CURRENT HISTORY
2014; 113 (759): 8-11
View details for Web of Science ID 000342186800004
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Petroleum to the People Africa's Coming Resource Curse-and How to Avoid It
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2013; 92 (5): 86-98
View details for Web of Science ID 000323239100008
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THE NEED FOR A POLITICAL PACT
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2012; 23 (4): 138-149
View details for Web of Science ID 000309792500016
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THE COMING WAVE
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2012; 23 (1): 5-13
View details for Web of Science ID 000299145400001
- Elections Without Democracy: Thinking about Hybrid Regimes Journal of Democracy 2012; 13 (2)
- Liberation Technology: Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2012
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Democracy's Third Wave Today
CURRENT HISTORY
2011; 110 (739): 299-307
View details for Web of Science ID 000296403700001
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WHY DEMOCRACIES SURVIVE
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2011; 22 (1): 17-30
View details for Web of Science ID 000286350000002
- The Financial Crisis and the Democracy Recession New Ideas on Development after the Financial Crisis Johns Hopkins University Press. 2011
- The Impact of the Economic Crisis: Why Democracies Survive Journal of Democracy 2011; 22: 17-30
- “A Fourth Wave or a False Start: Democracy after the Arab Spring Foreign Affairs 2011
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The Meanings of Democracy INTRODUCTION
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2010; 21 (4): 102-105
View details for Web of Science ID 000283024500009
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LIBERATION TECHNOLOGY
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2010; 21 (3): 69-83
View details for Web of Science ID 000279967300006
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The State and Violence
PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICS
2010; 8 (1): 293-296
View details for DOI 10.1017/S1537592709992593
View details for Web of Science ID 000276727900032
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WHY ARE THERE NO ARAB DEMOCRACIES?
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2010; 21 (1): 93-104
View details for Web of Science ID 000273675000010
- Democratization in Africa edited by Diamond, L. Johns Hopkins University Press . 2010
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IS A 'RAINBOW COALITION' A GOOD WAY TO GOVERN?
BULLETIN OF INDONESIAN ECONOMIC STUDIES
2009; 45 (3): 337-340
View details for DOI 10.1080/00074910903424035
View details for Web of Science ID 000274274800003
- Supporting Democracy: Refashioning U.S. Global Strategy Democracy in U.S. Security Strategy: From Promotion to Support Center for Strategic and International Studies. 2009
- Democracy: A Reader edited by Diamond , L., Plattner , M. F. Johns Hopkins University Press . 2009
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The democratic rollback - The resurgence of the predatory state
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2008; 87 (2): 36-48
View details for Web of Science ID 000253328100004
- Introduction: Comparative Perspectives on Democratic Legitimacy in East Asia How East Asians View Democracy Columbia University Press. 2008 : 1–38
- Latin America’s Struggle for Democracy edited by Diamond , L., Plattner, M. F., Abente , D. Johns Hopkins University Press . 2008
- Forward Smart Aid for African Development Lynne Rienner Publishers. 2008
- Conclusion: Values, Regime Performance, and Democratic Consolidation How East Asians View Democracy Columbia University Press . 2008 : 238–257
- Progress and Retreat in Africa: The Rule of Law versus the Big Man Journal of Democracy 2008 ; 19: 138-149
- How People View Democracy edited by Diamond , L., Plattner , M. F. Johns Hopkins University Press . 2008
- How East Asians View Democracy edited by Diamond , L., Chu , Y., Nathan , A., Shin , D. C. Columbia University Press . 2008
- A Compatative Perspective on Hong Kong Democratization: Proespects Toward 2017/2020 China’s Hong Kong Transformed: Retrospect and Prospects City University of Hong Kong Press. 2008 : 315–333
- Why China's Democratic Transition Will Differ From Taiwan's Political Change in China: Comparisons with Taiwan Lynne Rienner Publishers . 2008 : 243–257
- Prospects for Democratization in Hong Kong: A Comparative Perspective Hong Kong on the Move: 10 Years as the HKSAR Center for Strategic and International Studies . 2008 : 3–17
- Political Change in China: Comparisons with Taiwan edited by Diamond , L., Gilley , B. Lynne Rienner Publishers . 2008
- The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World Times Books. 2008
- Political Change in China: Comparisons with Taiwan edited by Diamond , L., Gilley, B. Lynne Rienner Publishers. 2008
- Iran's weakened hard-liners crave a US attack Christian Science Monitor 2007
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Iraq and democracy: The lessons learned
CURRENT HISTORY
2006; 105 (687): 34-39
View details for Web of Science ID 000234672800006
- Seeding Liberal Democracy With All Our Might: A Progressive Strategy for Defeating Jihadism and Defending Liberty 2006
- What to do in Iraq: A Roundtable Foreign Affairs 2006; 85 (4)
- Electoral Systems and Democracy edited by Diamond , L. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 2006
- Slide Rules: What Civil War Looks Like The New Republic 2006: 11-14
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A win-win US strategy for dealing with Iran
WASHINGTON QUARTERLY
2006; 30 (1): 121-138
View details for Web of Science ID 000242662600009
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A transatlantic strategy to promote democratic development in the broader Middle East
WASHINGTON QUARTERLY
2005; 28 (2): 7-21
View details for Web of Science ID 000227778200001
- Empowering the Poor: What Does Democracy Have to Do with It? Measuring Empowerment: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives 2005
- Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq Times Books. 2005
- What Went Wrong and Right in Iraq Nation-Building: Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq 2005
- Beyond Incrementalism: A New U.S. Strategy for Dealing with Iran Hoover Institution Press 2005
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Building democracy after conflict - Introduction
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2005; 16 (1): 5-8
View details for Web of Science ID 000226347100001
- World Religions and Democracy edited by Diamond, L., Plattner, M. F., Costopoulos, P. J. The Johns Hopkins University Press . 2005
- Assessing the Quality of Democracy edited by Diamond , L., Morlino, L. Johns Hopkins University Press . 2005
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The quality of democracy - An overview
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2004; 15 (4): 20-31
View details for Web of Science ID 000224470300002
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What went wrong in Iraq
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
2004; 83 (5): 34-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000223299800005
- Nigeria's Struggle for Democracy and Good Governance: A Festschrift for Oyeleye Oyediran edited by Agbaje, A. A., Diamond, L. Ibadan University Press. 2004
- Promoting Real Reform in Africa Democratic Reform in Africa: The Quality of Progress Lynne Rienner Publishers. 2004
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Universal democracy?
POLICY REVIEW
2003: 3-25
View details for Web of Science ID 000224067400001
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Species of political parties - A new typology
PARTY POLITICS
2003; 9 (2): 167-199
View details for Web of Science ID 000181472100002
- Islam and Democracy in the Middle East Johns Hopkins Univeristy Press. 2003
- The Rule of Law as Transition to Democracy in China Journal of Contemporary China 2003; 12 (35)
- Institutional Design, Ethnic Conflict Management, and Democracy in Nigeria The Architecture of Democracy: Constitutional Design, Conflict Mangement and Democracy Oxford University Press. 2002
- Democracy After Communism edited by Diamond, L. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2002
- Consolidating Democracies Comparing Democracies: New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting Sage. 2002
- Promoting Democratic Governance U.S. Agency for International Development, Foreign Aid in the National Interest: Promoting Freedom, Security, and Opportunity U.S. Agency for International Development. 2002: 33–53
- Foreword to "Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria" Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria U.S. Institute of Peace. 2001
- How People View Democracy: Halting Progress in Korea and Taiwan Journal of Democracy 2001; 12 (1)
- Anatomy of an Earthquake: How the KMT Lost and the DPP Won the 2000 Presidential Election Taiwan's Presidential Politics: Democratization and Cross-Strait Relations in the 21st Century M.E. Sharpe . 2001
- Building a World of Liberal Democracies Foreign Policy for America's Third Century: Alternative Perspectives Hoover Institutution Press . 2001
- Political Parties and Democracy edited by Diamond , L., Gunther , R. Johns Hopkins University Press . 2001
- The Global Divergence of Democracies Johns Hopkins University Press . 2001
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The global state of democracy
CURRENT HISTORY
2000; 99 (641): 413-418
View details for Web of Science ID 000165497200005
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Is Pakistan the (reverse) wave of the future?
JOURNAL OF DEMOCRACY
2000; 11 (3): 91-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000088288200010
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Consolidating democracy in the Americas
First Congress of the Americas
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC. 1997: 12–41
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WJ79700002
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THE GLOBAL IMPERATIVE - BUILDING A DEMOCRATIC WORLD-ORDER
CURRENT HISTORY
1994; 93 (579): 1-7
View details for Web of Science ID A1994MP12400001
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EX-AFRICA - A NEW DEMOCRATIC SPIRIT HAS LOOSENED THE GRIP OF AFRICAN DICTATORIAL RULE
TLS-THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
1993: 3-4
View details for Web of Science ID A1993LK76100001
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PROMOTING DEMOCRACY
FOREIGN POLICY
1992: 25-46
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HW90900002
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ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY RECONSIDERED
AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST
1992; 35 (4-5): 450-499
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HG90700006
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BEYOND AUTHORITARIANISM AND TOTALITARIANISM - STRATEGIES FOR DEMOCRATIZATION
WASHINGTON QUARTERLY
1989; 12 (1): 141-163
View details for Web of Science ID A1989R400800010
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CLASS FORMATION IN THE SWOLLEN AFRICAN STATE
JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES
1987; 25 (4): 567-596
View details for Web of Science ID A1987N537000001
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BUILDING AND SUSTAINING DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES - SOME TENTATIVE FINDINGS
WORLD AFFAIRS
1987; 150 (1): 5-19
View details for Web of Science ID A1987K208700002
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NIGERIA BETWEEN DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY
CURRENT HISTORY
1987; 86 (520): 201-?
View details for Web of Science ID A1987H045900003
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ISSUES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN OF A THIRD NIGERIAN REPUBLIC
AFRICAN AFFAIRS
1987; 86 (343): 209-226
View details for Web of Science ID A1987H556400005
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EFFECTS OF INVESTMENT DEPENDENCE ON ECONOMIC-GROWTH - ROLE OF INTERNAL STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS AND PERIODS IN THE WORLD-ECONOMY
INTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY
1979; 23 (3): 412-444
View details for Web of Science ID A1979HQ23200004
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DEMOCRACYS RACE AGAINST TIME
NATION
1975; 220 (18): 558-562
View details for Web of Science ID A1975AA31600014
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BOOM TIME ALONG SUEZ
NATION
1975; 220 (22): 680-684
View details for Web of Science ID A1975AD20500007