Yossi Shain

THE ROLE OF INTERIM GOVERNMENTS

Yossi Shain, who teaches political science at Tel Aviv University, is currently an International Fulbright Scholar at Yale University. He is the author of The Frontier of Loyalty: Political Exiles in the Age of the Nation-State (1989), and the editor of Governments-in-Exile in Contemporary World Politics (1991). Juan J. Linz, Sterling Professor of Political and Social Science at Yale, is widely known for his writings on democratic transitions and breakdowns. This essay is drawn from a much longer and more amply documented paper presented by the authors at the 1991 convention of the American Political Science Association. In the last decade, transitions from authoritarian and posttotalitarian rule to democracy have become a leading topic among students of democracy. Scholars and activists alike have reflected on the decline of dictatorships, the various paths that democratic regime change can take, and the ways in which new democracies can be consolidated. Although many case studies and theoretical works deal with democratic transitions, relatively little attention has thus far been paid to the role of interim or provisional governments in the attainment of democratic rule. t This shortcoming needs to be remedied, for the character and actions of interim administrations can have profound consequences for the course and outcome of the transition process, the character of the new regime, and its future stability. Interim governments may affect 1) the constitutional framework and the nature of the future political system; 2) the degree of political openness in the future democracy, its respect for human rights, and its willingness to eradicate the vestiges of the old regime; 3) the nature of the economy (capitalist or socialist); 4) the role of certain key institutions, especially the armed forces, in the new society; and 5) the countrys future international posture and alliances. Yet all interim administrations lack a democratic mandate until free and contested elections are held and a popularly chosen government assumes power.

Between States. Interim Governments and Democratic Transitions

Part I. Theory: Introduction 1. Provisional governments: revolutionaries and moderates 2. The power-sharing model 3. The caretaker government formula 4. The international interim government model revisited Yossi Shain and Lynn Berat 5. The timing and nature of first democratic elections Part II. Case Studies: 7. The provisional government and the transition from monarchy to Islamic Republic in Iran H. E. Chehabi 8. From revolution to democracy in Portugal: the roles and stages of the provisional governments Thomas C. Bruneau 9. Accelerating collapse: the East German road from liberalization to power sharing and its legacy Daniel V. Friedheim 10. Interim government and democratic consolidation: Argentina in comparative perspective James McGuire 11. The failure of an internationally-sponsored interim government in AfghanistanBarnett R. Rubin 12. Electoral transitions in Yugoslavia Paula Franklin Lytle 13. Democratization and the international system: the foreign policies of interim governments Allison Stanger.