Transitions to democracy: fear, uncertainty and intellectual and political commitment

This paper analyzes the importance of the book Transitions from Authoritarian Rule, edited by Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe Schmitter and Laurence Whitehead. This book was published in 1986. In the 80's and the 90's this text would influence Political Science. We consider there are two main issues in this work: the uncertainty of democracy transitions processes and the fear of an authoritarian regression. Twenty five years later we analyze its current importance.