Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion. This item is unavailable.Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion

In this groundbreaking book, Arnold August explores Cuba’s unique form of democracy, presenting a detailed and balanced analysis of Cuba’s electoral process and the state’s functioning between elections. By comparing it with practices in the U.S., Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, August shows that people’s participation in politics and society is not limited to a singular U.S.-centric understanding of democracy. For example, democracy as practised in the U.S. is largely non-participatory, static and fixed in time.

Cuba, by contrast, is a laboratory where the process of democratization is continually in motion, an ongoing experiment to create new ways for people to participate. August argues forcefully for the need to develop mutual understanding of different political systems and, in doing so, to not be satisfied with either blanket condemnation or idealistic illusions, both resulting from a refusal to analyze the actual inner workings of each process.

Visit www.democracycuba.com for more details.

Arnold August has an M.A. in political science from McGill University, Montreal, where he resides. His books include Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion (Fernwood Publishing/Zed Books, 2013), Cuba-U.S. Relations: Obama and Beyond (Fernwood, 2017). An accomplished journalist, he contributes articles in English and Spanish to websites in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Latin America and Europe. Since 1997, he has spent extended periods in Cuba pursuing his intensive investigations.