3. Social structure and history

Question 1

Causes of transitions to democracy

examples

Answer 1

1. Death of a dictator
2. losing a war
3. revolutions
4. international pressure
5. economic incentives

Question 2

causes of stabilisation of a democracy

Answer 2

1. new, legitimate institutions
2. a better economy
3. long periods of peace
4. welfare state

3. institutions providing peace 4. happy citizens

Question 3

Long term causes of democratisation

Answer 3

1. Economic development
2. Social heterogeneity
3. Colonial & authoritarian past
4. Geography & resources

Structural, can’t change them

Question 4

Mid-term causes of democratisation

Answer 4

1. Power-sharing vs power-concentrating institutions
2. Presidentialism
3. Electoral system
4. Institutional checks and balances

Institutional choices, can be changed

Question 5

Short term causes of democratisation

Answer 5

1. Political actors: incumbents and opposition
2. Media and civil society
3. Events: economic crisis, conflict
4. International actors

Actor-based

Question 6

Structural explanations for democratisation

Answer 6

1. Structural explanations about structural conditions like your geography/history.
2. You could have a lot of ethnic groups or languages, which makes it more difficult to democratise
3. Different structural causes determine if it’s easier to democratise or not

Question 7

Process explanations for democratisation

Answer 7

Process explanations is about how democratisation is a process, which is dependent on actors and institutional factors.

Question 8

Preconditionalists

Answer 8

1. Believe democracy emerges from a particular set of conditions and experiences
2. If certain factors are present, successful democratisation is likely, and the other way around.
3. Some countries are just not destined to be democracies

being poor, weak state, lots of ethnic groups

Question 9

Universalists

Answer 9

1. Believe democratisation is a process
2. It is triggered by many factors

Question 10

Deterministic view towards democratisation

Answer 10

Certain preconditions are needed

basically precondtionalist

Question 11

probabilistic view towards democratisation

Answer 11

certain factors could make it more likely to become democratic, but every country can become democratic

basically universalist

Question 12

Problem with preconditionalist view

Answer 12

1. basically dooms countries
2. countries without certain preconditions have been able to democratise

for example, economic development first because poor countries can’t democratise: india is poor but democratising.

Question 13

problem with universalist view

Answer 13

1. some countries have had setbacks in democratising
2. some countries have very stable autocracies where process hasn’t really happened
3. it is important to realise democraisation processes are messy
4. we can’t expect countries to quickly democratise, cause neither did we

Question 14

How do military regimes affect democratisation

Answer 14

1. More likely to become democratic after breakdown because they have more of a sense of institutions
2. Break down more easily because of discussion within military on where to lead the country –> it’s a team effort
3. Military regimes no longer seen as legitimate, after coup d’etats they immediately say it’s for democracy and organise elections

Question 15

How do single party regimes affect democratisation

Answer 15

1. Disagreement is allowed
2. Party elites are trained –> after breakdown capable people can take over
3. A well organised party can help you represent the interests of the people who supported autocracy, so it can bring them in the new democratic regime

Question 16

types of transition

Answer 16

1. violent vs non-violent
2. pacted vs rupture
3. imposed vs indigenous
4. clear-cut vs protracted

1. Violent transition harder to democratise because it’s hard to make peace again
2. Imposed not seen as legitimate, citizens didn’t want it themselves
3. Pacted is better for democratisation, but transitional justice is needed

Question 17

Authoritarian legacies

Answer 17

1. authoritarian successor parties
2. authoritarian constitutions
3. sub-national authoritarian enclaves

Question 18

authoritarian successor parties

what are they + are they bad for democratisation or not?

Answer 18

1. first seen in post-communist world
2. it was common for former communist ruling parties to remain viable under democracy and even be able to win elections
3. high-level authoritarian incumbents may seek to keep influence by forming new parties shortly before or after democratic transition
4. They bring in citizens that supported the old regime, so not necessarily bad. It prevents them from rebelling.

Question 19

Authoritarian constitutions

what are they + are they bad for democratisation or not?

Answer 19

1. outgoing dictatorships imposing rules that persist after regime transition
2. protective power for military, limit power of elected governments, excluding of certain groups, electoral advtange for allies
3. A culture of institutions can help with moving towards democracy, but certain ones like protective power for military are bad.
4. if there is majority rule, it isn’t necessarily undemocratic
5. it is undemocratic if the institutions’ decisions are out of the hands of voters

1. some people support authortarian regime if period before it was violent, so they could fear democracy. keeping authoritarian constitutions can prevent opposition against democracy.
2. authoritarian constitutions are eventually reversed or changed

Question 20

Sub-national authoritarian enclaves

what are they + are they bad for democratisation or not?

Answer 20

1. authoritarian regime on local level
2. south of USA –> informal rules where black people are excluded from voting even though demorats were im power
3. most damaging for democratisation because it undermines democracy the most, they threaten to spread to the broader political body

Question 21

How does colonial history affect democratisation?

three main arguments

Answer 21

1. colonial legacy
2. settlers vs extraction colonies
3. population density

Question 22

colonial legacy

Answer 22

1. leaves rule of law tradition or rule by force tradition. the way these colonial rulers left patterns of how power is used after decolonisation.
2. leaves parliamentary vs presidential institutions
3. leaves land conflicts and conflicts between different social groups.

1. rule of law doesn’t necessarily mean the country is more democratised after decolonialisation
2. colonial rulers would pick one or two ethnic groups and put them in charge over other groups and give them land

Question 23

settler vs extraction colonies

Answer 23

1. settlers left state capacity and institutions
2. extractors left predatory states

important argument with empirical evidence: settler colonies had institutions left behind, extractors had nothing

Question 24

population density

Answer 24

1. more dense population makes it easier to set up systems of slavery/forced labour
2. less dense population requires democratic concessions in return for labour
3. democratisation in less densely populated countries is more likely because to extract resources and make farms you need labour. people were brought over to this area, but they demanded a salary and fair taxation.

not a great argument because it’s a long causational chain from colonisation to democratisation