Aftershocks: Great Powers and Domestic Reforms in the Twentieth Century [Paperback]

Over the past century, democracy spread around the world in turbulent bursts of change, sweeping across national borders in dramatic cascades of revolution and reform.Aftershocksoffers a new global-oriented explanation for this wavelike spread and retreatnot only of democracy but also of its twentieth-century rivals, fascism and communism.

Seva Gunitsky argues that waves of regime change are driven by the aftermath of cataclysmic disruptions to the international system. These hegemonic shocks, marked by the sudden rise and fall of great powers, have been essential and often-neglected drivers of domestic transformations. Though rare and fleeting, they not only repeatedly alter the global hierarchy of powerful states but also create unique and powerful opportunities for sweeping national reformsby triggering military impositions, swiftly changing the incentives of domestic actors, or transforming the basis of political legitimacy itself. As a result, the evolution of modern regimes cannot be fully understood without examining the consequences of clashes between great powers, which repeatedlyand often unsuccessfullysought to cajole, inspire, and intimidate other states into joining their camps.

"One of Foreign Affairs Best of Books 2017  Political and Legal / Globalization"Seva Gunitskyis assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Highly recommended. . . . The conclusion is especially strong and provocative, speculating that though democracy has advantages that prevent crises from becoming so severe they threaten stability, autocratic capitalism may be a viable alternative if democracy fails to provide security and prosperity for its people. In this landmark study, Gunitsky . . . illuminates the deep connections between global shfits in power and waves of domestic regime change. . . . No book has made a stronger case that the fate of democracy is tied to the rise and fall of great powers and tlӥ