ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with what the book is about, the main themes, research problem/question, and, ultimately, its contribution to the wider field of political and electoral participation. Also, it offers a clarification of the term newly consolidated democracies as it is applied in this study. The terms new democracies, transitional democracies, emerging, and young democracies tend to be used interchangeably by scholars and most of the time scholars are inclined to assume that readers understand their usage.
