Hard Road to Democracy: Four Developing Nations

A supplemental text for freshman/sophomore-level courses in Introduction to Political Science, International Relations, Cultures, Diversity. This short and lively-yet exceptionally substantive-introduction to the Third World is designed to help students gain a clearer perspective of the basics and true nature of developing countries before they grapple with more abstract patterns in a variety of courses that deal with the Third World-e.g., history, political science, geography, cultural diversity. Taken from the author's widely used Countries and Concepts: Politics, Geography, Culture, 7/E, it looks at the history, structure, culture, politics, and quarrels of four developing countries-China, Brazil, South Africa, and Iran-examining their progress and problems, and underscoring the fact that democracy in the Third World is difficult but possible and that what West Europe and North America did first (and it wasn't quick or easy for them either) most of the Third World will accomplish in the twenty-first century.