Why ‘Together We Are Strong’ does not work

The Serbian Revolution of 2000, Georgian Rose Revolution of 2003, and Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004 are examined from the perspective of both the causes of popular engagement and the elite interaction. The authors argue that the model of Electoral Revolutions based on democracy promotion from outside and election fraud as a trigger for action does not fully explain either what brought people to the streets or why there was not a clear move to democratization in these cases. Instead, they show that corruption, failed administration, and state weakness were the triggers, that the opposition politicians were from the old administration, that people were repeating what they had done before in demonstrating, and that the mass movements did not result in the growth of civil society, increased popular engagement, or (on their own) significant democratization.