The multidisciplinary essays in Democracy and Its Limits combine an appreciation of the progress made to date in Third World democratization with a sober assessment of structural and cultural factors that limit further progress toward procedural democracy in many parts of the world, such as China and much of the Middle East. The contributors to this volume assess the positive accomplishments of newly installed or restored democratic regimes, as well as the frequent failure of political democracies to achieve socioeconomic democracy. In avoiding both the euphoria of many early works on Third Wave democratization and the deep pessimism of many recent publications, this book presents a balanced perspective that is a welcome contribution to the field of comparative politics.