DEMOCRATIC STATES

AND
DEMOCRATIZATION
 1. Define Democracy?

How would you define suffrage, democracy, republic, majority

rule, and parliament?

How would you define participatory democracy, constitutional

monarchy, and liberalism?

Topic Outline What are some of the most notable characteristics of a democracy?

What fear did Plato and Alexis de Tocqueville have regarding

democracy and the tyranny of the majority?

What are checks and balances?

Topic Outline

What are ten catalysts that

have prompted a transition Why did each of these
2. Major Explanations for
from authoritarian, or catalysts promote democratic
Democratization
dictatorial, to democratic government?
forms of government?
Discussion
Topic Outline

How would you

How would you define participatory
1. Define Democracy? define suffrage, democracy, republic, majority rule,
democracy, constitutional monarchy, and liberalism?
and parliament?

What are some of the most notable characteristics of a What fear did Plato and Alexis de Tocqueville have
What are checks and balances?
democracy? regarding democracy and the tyranny of the majority?
As in all forms of government, many variations and types of
democracy exist. Nevertheless, key components of democracy endure,
such as some type of participation or involvement from their citizens.

James Madison (1731–1836), Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804), and

John Jay (1745–1829) authored The Federalist Papers, a series of 85
articles published in New York newspapers under the pseudonym
Publius to make the case for democracy in the United States and
convince the people to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

They shared the fear Plato and Alexis de Tocqueville had regarding
the tyranny of the majority. They installed certain incentives and
institutional checks and balances to prevent any one faction from
creating a tyranny in the United States.
Democracy
Democracy is an egalitarian form of
government in which all the citizens of a
nation together determine public policy,
the laws, and the actions of their state. It
requires that all citizens (meeting certain
qualifications) have an equal opportunity
to express their opinion.
In practice, democracy is the extent to
which a given system approximates this
ideal. A given political system is referred
to as a democracy if it allows a certain
approximation to ideal democracy.
Although no country has ever granted all
its citizens (i.e. including minors) the
vote, most countries today hold regular
elections based on egalitarian principles,
at least in theory.
Democracy
The term democracy comes from the Greek word δ (dēmokratía), “rule of the people,” which was coined from δ
(dēmos), “people,” and κ (kratia), “rule,” in the middle of the 5th-4th century BCE to denote the political systems
then existing in some Greek city-states, notably Athens following a popular uprising in 508 BCE.

Other cultures since Greece have significantly contributed to the evolution of democracy, such as Ancient Rome,
Europe, and North and South America. The concept of representative democracy arose largely from ideas and
institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages and the Age of Enlightenment and in the American
and French Revolutions.

The right to vote has been expanded in many jurisdictions over time from relatively narrow groups (such as
wealthy men of a particular ethnic group), with New Zealand the first nation to grant universal suffrage for all its
citizens in 1893.
Elements considered essential to democracy include freedom of political expression,
freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, so that citizens are adequately informed and
able to vote according to their own best interests as they see them.

The term “democracy” is often used as shorthand for liberal democracy, which may
include elements such as political pluralism, equality before the law, the right to petition
elected officials for redress of grievances, due process, civil liberties, human rights, and
elements of civil society outside the government.

Democracy
Democracy
In the United States, separation of powers is often cited as a central attribute, but in other countries, such
as the United Kingdom, the dominant principle is that of parliamentary sovereignty (whilst maintaining
judicial independence). In other cases, democracy is used to mean direct democracy. Though the term
“democracy” is typically used in the context of a political state, the principles are applicable to private
organizations and other groups as well.

Majority rule is often listed as a characteristic of democracy. However, it is also possible for a minority to
be oppressed by a tyranny of the majority in the absence of governmental or constitutional protections of
individual or group rights. An essential part of an ideal representative democracy is competitive elections
that are fair both substantively and procedurally.
Participatory Democracy

Participatory democracy is a process

emphasizing the broad participation of Participatory democracy strives to create
However, participatory democracy tends to
constituents in the direction and operation of opportunities for all members of a population
advocate more involved forms of citizen
political systems. The etymological roots of to make meaningful contributions to decision
participation than traditional representative
democracy (Greek demos and kratos) imply making and seeks to broaden the range of
democracy.
that the people are in power and, thus, that all people who have access to such opportunities.
democracies are participatory.
 Participatory democracy has been a feature of human society since at least classical times. It is
believed to have been a common practice of undeveloped people and hunter-gatherer tribes.

In seventh and eighth century ancient Greece, the informal distributed power structure of the
villages and minor towns began to be displaced with collectives of oligarchs seizing power as the
villages and towns coalesced into city-states.
Participatory
Democracy A brief period where a region was governed almost totally by participatory democracy occurred
during the Spanish civil war, from 1936-1938, in the parts of Spain controlled by anarchist
Republicans.

In the 1960s, the promotion and use of participatory democracy was a major theme for elements of
the American Left. In 2011, participatory democracy became a notable feature of the Occupy
movement, with Occupy camps around the world making decisions based on the outcome of
working groups where every protestor gets to have his say, and by general assemblies where the
decisions taken by working groups are effectively aggregated together.
 The United States is a federal constitutional republic in which the
President of the United States (the head of state and government),
Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government,
and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.
The executive branch is headed by the President and is independent of the
legislature.

Democracy in Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of Congress, the Senate
and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch, composed of the
the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts, exercises judicial power.

The judiciary’s function is to interpret the United States Constitution and

federal laws and regulations. This includes resolving disputes between the
executive and legislative branches. The federal government’s organization
is explained in the Constitution.
 In the United States, suffrage is nearly universal for citizens 18 years of
age and older. All states and the District of Columbia contribute to the
electoral vote for president.

Democracy in Unlike the United Kingdom and other similar parliamentary systems that
the U.S. directly choose a particular political party, Americans vote for a specific
candidate. Within the federal government, officials are elected at the
federal (national), state and local levels.

On a national level, the President is elected indirectly by the people

through an Electoral College. People vote for electors who pledge, in turn,
to cast their electoral votes for a particular candidate. In modern times, the
electors virtually always vote with the popular vote of their state. All
members of Congress and offices at the state and local levels are directly
elected.
Topic Outline

What are ten catalysts that

have prompted a transition Why did each of these
2. Major Explanations for
from authoritarian, or catalysts promote democratic
Democratization
dictatorial, to democratic government?
forms of government?
 The key causes for democratization are
difficult to establish, but social scientists have
an idea about some of the conditions that may
lead to democratization.
Do all of the reasons they provide mean
Discussion democratization will necessarily result?
Can you think of any states that may have
fulfilled these conditions, but have not
democratized?
 Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic
political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a
democratic direction. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a
full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a
semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a
democratic political system.

The outcome may be consolidated (as it was for example in the

Democratization United Kingdom) or democratization may face frequent reversals (as happened
in Chile). Different patterns of democratization are often used to explain other
political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or whether its
economy grows.

Whether and to what extent democratization occurs has been attributed to

various factors, including economic development, historical legacies, civil
society, and international processes. Some accounts of democratization
emphasize how elites drove democratization, whereas other accounts
emphasize grassroots bottom-up processes.
 1. Economic Development and Modernization

Scholar like Seymour Martin Lipset, Carles Boix, Susan

Stokes,Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Stephens, and John
Stephens argue that economic development increases the
likelihood of democratization.

According to Daniel Treisman, there is "a strong and consistent

relationship between higher income and both democratization and

Causes democratic survival in the medium term (10–20 years), but not
necessarily in shorter time windows."Robert Dahl argued that
market economies provided favorable conditions for democratic
institutions.

A higher GDP/capita correlates with democracy and some claim

the wealthiest democracies have never been observed to fall into
authoritarianism
Causes
Acemoglu and Robinson argued that the
relationship between social equality and
democratic transition is complicated: People
2. Equality and Inclusive Institutions
have less incentive to revolt in an egalitarian
society (for example, Singapore), so the
likelihood of democratization is lower.
In a highly unequal society (for
example, South Africa under Apartheid), the
redistribution of wealth and power in a
democracy would be so harmful to elites that
these would do everything to prevent
democratization.

Democratization is more likely to emerge

somewhere in the middle, in the countries,
whose elites offer concessions because (1)
they consider the threat of a revolution
credible and (2) the cost of the concessions is
not too high. This expectation is in line with
the empirical research showing that
democracy is more stable in egalitarian
societies.
Causes
It is claimed by some that certain cultures are
simply more conducive to democratic values than
others. This view is likely to be ethnocentric.
3. Culture Typically, it is Western culture which is cited as
"best suited" to democracy, with other cultures
portrayed as containing values which make
democracy difficult or undesirable.
This argument is sometimes used by
undemocratic regimes to justify their failure to
implement democratic reforms. Today, however,
there are many non-Western democracies.
Examples include: India, Japan, Indonesia,
Namibia, Botswana, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Research finds that "Western-educated leaders
significantly and substantively improve a
country's democratization prospects".

Robert Dahl argued in On Democracy that

countries with a "democratic political culture"
were more prone for democratization and
democratic survival. He also argued that cultural
homogeneity and smallness contribute to
democratic survival.[ Other scholars have
however challenged the notion that small states
and homogeneity strengthen democracy.
Causes
It has long been theorized that
education promotes stable and
democratic societies. Research shows
4. Education that education leads to greater political
tolerance, increases the likelihood of
political participation and reduces
inequality.
One study finds "that increases in
levels of education improve levels of
democracy and that the democratizing
effect of education is more intense in
poor countries".

It is commonly claimed that

democracy and democratization were
important drivers of the expansion of
primary education around the world.
However, new evidence from
historical education trends challenges
this assertion.
Causes

5. Death or Ouster of Dictator

One analysis found that "Compared with other forms of leadership turnover in autocracies —
such as coups, elections, or term limits — which lead to regime collapse about half of the time,
the death of a dictator is remarkably inconsequential. ... of the 79 dictators who have died in
office (1946-2014)... in the vast majority (92%) of cases, the regime persists after the autocrat's
death."