This volume offers a comprehensive overview of current debates about democracy across the globe. Since the political turmoil in Eastern Europe began in the 1980a s, the debate about the meaning and future of democracy has intensified. Prospects for Democracy assesses this debate through wide--ranging theoretical considerations and a diverse set of case studies. The volume begins with a major overview of the concept of democracy, from ancient city states to contemporary discussion about the possibility of international democracy. In the next section a series of contemporary models of democracy are examined and their strengths and limits explored. The third section confronts a wide variety of questions about the proper form and scope of democratic politics. In the final part, the context and prospects of democracy are investigated across many of the worlds major regions including Western and Eastern Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Sub--Saharan Africa and the Middle East. This volume will be widely welcomes by all those, academics and non--academics alike, who have an interest in the meaning and future of democracy as we approach the 21st Century.