BEYOND CONTESTED ELECTIONS - THE PROCESSES OF BILL CREATION AND THE FULFILLMENT OF DEMOCRACY PROMISES TO THE THIRD-WORLD

In the Third World, development has not progressed as expected; legisl atures in both formerly colonized nations and in states making the tra nsition from command to market economies have enacted few transformati ve laws favoring the majority. Especially in view of the predominant e xecutive domination of legislation in the law-making process, the auth ors contend that this failure demonstrates the falsity of a definition of democracy that hinges solely on the existence of competitive elect ions. in this Article, the authors examine the causes of the failure t o enact transformative laws and propose potential solutions. They beli eve that problematic institutions have blocked development and that ex isting bill-creating institutions in the executive branch require sign ificant restructuring. The authors adopt a problem-solving methodology to identify, the causes of the problematic behaviors both of appointe d and elected officials and of the actors whose behaviors government s eeks to change via legislation. Insights from the authors' experience living, teaching, and training drafters and legislators in several Afr ican and other third-world countries inform the perspective set forth herein.