Nations in Transit 2012

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights.

This update of a resource published every two years since 1995 relates the critical, defining shifts occurring within 29 countries between 2009 and early 2011. It offers World Bank nation data and a compilation of the research of 37 field specialists, whose 29 chapter-long essays are divided by standard subheadings such as “Electoral Process,” “Independent Media,” and “Corruption.” Freedom House’s by-year, comparative scoring, starting with 2002, allows for quick assessment of each nation’s political course. While the book lacks a general bibliography, each essay closes with extensive endnotes indicating specific source titles. VERDICT A noteworthy reference for world politics collections.