Regional organizations and the transition to democracy: evidence from cases.

The following two chapters provide six illustrative case studies that examine the causal relationship between regional organizations and democratization. The statistical evidence presented in Chapter 4 provides substantial confirmation of the hypothesis that regional IOs are associated statistically with democratic transitions. Yet, the macro-oriented nature of those tests makes it difficult to identify the particular causal processes behind the correlations in the data. These case studies will help to tease out the exact nature of the link between regional IOs and democratic transitions. Turning to the cases in this chapter, Hungary and Peru are categorized as a success and partial success as a result of their respective status democracies. Both provide evidence that regional institutions can play a role in both the initial movement to democracy (liberalization in Peru) and the completion of democratic transitions (Hungary). The third case study in this chapter, Turkey, illustrates the effectiveness of several European organizations at encouraging redemocratization, but also points to the failure of those organizations in assisting in the consolidation of democracy. Chapter 7 presents studies of how regional organizations have enhanced the prospects for democracy's survival in Greece, Paraguay, and Guatemala. Again, Turkey is a key case providing evidence against these propositions concerning consolidation, although I place Turkey with the transition studies. Case selection Before moving into the case studies, I discuss the criteria used to select cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]