Editor's Introduction

Abstract

"[I]n many countries elections have not led to liberal democracies that demonstrate such characteristics as the supremacy of law, the separation of powers, and guaranteed civil rights and freedoms." So observes Aleksandr Lukin as he takes us on a tour d'horizon of democratic theory and contemporary Russian practice that is the best this editor has run across ("The Transitional Period in Russia: Democratization and Liberal Reforms"). He warns that liberalization must precede democratization if liberal democracy is to be created and is to survive: "[I]mposing democracy on an environment that is unprepared for it not only does not expand freedom but can even contribute to the abolition of the limited liberalism that may have existed before democratization."