chapter 6 - democracy and democratization

Question 1

democracy

Answer 1

a form of regime associated w/ “rule by the people” that signifies rights and liberties for citizens, including political rights to participate in elections + civil liberties such as freedom of speech

Question 2

political rights

Answer 2

rights of individuals to participate in social life, including the right to political speech, the right to vote, and the right to join political associations

Question 3

civil rights

Answer 3

rights of individuals to participate in civic life, including freedoms of assembly, speech, access to information, and equal access to institutions, among others

Question 4

regime

Answer 4

a form of governmental system, with an emphasis on institutions and rules

Question 5

democratic regime

Answer 5

a regime w/ primarily democratic institutions, including basic civil rights + regular, free elections

Question 6

procedural definition of democracy

Answer 6

a conception of democracy that emphasizes the minimal standards, procedures, or rules that a country should have in place to govern political life

Question 7

substantive definition of democracy

Answer 7

a conception of democracy that views a polity’s democratic status as dependent on the satisfaction of certain substantive ends, such as the extension of broad rights or the reduction of income inequality

Question 8

regime type

Answer 8

the form of a political regime, such as democratic vs. authoritarian, as well as subtypes, like personalistic dictatorship or totalitarian regimes

Question 9

democratization

Answer 9

the process of a regime becoming more democratic, including the democratic transition and democratic consolidation

Question 10

democratic breakdown

Answer 10

the process through which a democratic regime partially or completely loses its democratic status

Question 11

transition

Answer 11

movement from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one

Question 12

consolidation

Answer 12

process thru which new democratic order becomes institutionalized

Question 13

What are the 2 types of democracy?

Answer 13

representative democracy + direct democracy

Question 14

representative democracy

Answer 14

a conception of democracy in which politicians and institutions are understood to represent the electorate, who nevertheless can constrain their behavior thru periodic elections + other forms of representation

Question 15

constitutional republic

Answer 15

a polity without a monarch in which the basic rules and policies are laid out in the constitution

Question 16

constitutional monarchy

Answer 16

a political system in which a monarch plays a role as a head of state, but has powers limited by the constitution

Question 17

direct democracy

Answer 17

a conception of democracy that places great emphasis on direct citizen involvement in politics, especially involving plebiscites and/or citizen assemblies

Question 18

referenda

Answer 18

a popular vote on a specific issue

Question 19

democratic transitions

Answer 19

the process through which a non-democratic regime becomes democratic

Question 20

democratic consolidation

Answer 20

the process thru which, after a transition from authoritarianism, a polity strengthens its democracy

Question 21

modernization theory

Answer 21

a theory that traces democracy to broad social changes, especially economic development and the changes that accompany it

Question 22

What do the cultural theories of democratization state?

Answer 22

these theories link or attribute democratization/consolidation to variables within a culture that may lend some countries to having a democracy or hinder/prevent having a democracy in other countries

Question 23

What do systemic and structural theories of democratization state?

Answer 23

these theories say democratization is less caused by things happening w/in a given society but rather a function of operational factors at the international system

Question 24

What do democratic institutional theories state?

Answer 24

these theories say the success of democracy is dependent on the form of political institutions, like party systems + interest groups

Question 25

What do agency-based theories of democratization state?

Answer 25

these theories propose that individual political actors are the driving causes of change in the types of regimes w/in a country