SORPONG PEOU is Professor of International Security at Sophia University, Japan. He has written on Cambodian politics, international peacekeeping, peacebuilding, and regional security in Pacific Asia.

'I found the book very well structured and argued. The book's cautionary conclusions about the effects of democracy assistance seem justified. This seems to be a fine piece of work.' - Dr. Thomas Carothers, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, USA '[...] I found it extremely helpful in trying to come to get some understanding of the Cambodian case. Sorpong Peou has produced a really solid manuscript on a country that deserves much more attention.' - Professor William Case, City University of Hong Kong 'Sorpong Peou has written a first-rate book that will make an important contribution to the field.' - Professor William B. Frolic of York University, Canada 'I find this work extremely interesting.' - Professor Peter Leuprecht, Director of the Montreal Institute of International Studies, Canada '...Peou provides rich description of the recent developments in Cambodian politics beautifully...' - Sophal Ear - Contemporary Southeast Asia

• Introduction PART I: THE ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK Democratic Regime Consolidation & International Democracy Assistance Institutional Structure & Structural Challenges Research Methodology: Cambodia as Case Study PART II: POWER VS. DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION Electoral Procedural Rules under Constraint Liberal Norms under Stress Liberty under Pressure PART III: THE LIMITS OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION State Institutions' Underdevelopment Political Society's Underdevelopment Civil Society's Underdevelopment PART IV: STRUCTURAL CHALLENGES TO INSTITUTIONALIZATION Non-Material Constraints Economic Impediments Political Impediments PART V: THE LIMITS OF DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE Limits of Assistance for Institution Building Limits of Economic Assistance Limits of Political Assistance Conclusion: Toward Complex Realist Institutionalism