Contestability Article

Question 1

What were some main ideas of the article?

Answer 1

• examine the boundaries between democracy and authoritarianism
• soft manipulation tactics are authoritarian controls
• cover the conceptual ambiguity
• extend concept of authoritarianism to include government contestability

ROBERT DAHL ROB DAHL

Question 2

Explain robert dahls conception of a democracy as a polyarchy

Answer 2

• elected government must face a degree of political contestation generated by other polticial/social forces during tenure
• this is on top of the inclusive public participation

Question 3

Define low contestability

Answer 3

• A single political force stays in power for a long time without any serious challenge by other political forces
• no foreseeable prospect of losing power due to weak oppositions

Question 4

What does the procedural definition of democracy lack?

Dahl

Answer 4

• contestability
• the low levels of contestability are seen as legitmate outcomes insofar that public participation is open and citizens dont face obstacles in participating

basically saying that if public participation is open to citizens contestability really isnt an important factor to consider

Question 5

What does dahls polyarchy say about low levels of contestability

Answer 5

it is then an inclusive hegemony
* distinct political system that is open but has low levels of contestability
* puts the “democracy” in question of whether it is actually a democracy or not
*

Question 6

Why is it important to define a democracy from authoritarianism?

Answer 6

• dictators can mimic democracies through elections and other political parties
• leaders who get high popularity votes will credit that to populations and not systemic flaws (basically they deserve it, when in reality they have no challenge)
  **the use of soft manipulation and co-optation tactics*

Question 7

What is conceptual stretching?

Answer 7

covering these boundaries of non democracy too far in order to cover this type of regime

Question 8

What does conceptualizing democracy in procedural terms fail to do?

Answer 8

• fails to capture how soft tactics serve as informal restrictions to effective political competition in OPEN political systems

Question 9

Name some important aspects to Dahls Conception of Democracy?

Answer 9

• contestability with REAL opponents (strong oppositions and autonomous civil societies)
• pluralist view of politics
• higher threshold for democracies
• certain DEGREE of political competiveness
• no limits on public contestation

Question 10

What also improves inclusiveness of political system and degree of contestability?

Answer 10

the exercise of political rights and civil liberities

Question 11

Qualifications of a dominant position

Answer 11

• length of tenure
• size of parliamentary majorities
• impact of policies on national agenda
• size of minority parties
• length in office

Question 12

Inconclusive area

Answer 12

no systematic use of typical authoritarian tools but incumbents electoral defeat does not seem very likely in future

they not losing any time soon

Question 13

What is an inclusive hegemonic view on dominant parties/weak parties

Answer 13

dominant - increased party effectiveness
weak - incapacity to create a eqaully appealing agenda

Question 14

What does Robert Dahl say about reconfirmed political leaders?

Answer 14

• the voting was conducted in a way that used co-optation and socioeconomic pressures that targeted the opposition and civic society organizations

Question 15

define a pred-dominant party system

Answer 15

• major party consistently winning with majority voters
• other parties exist and are legal/legitmate competitors (even if not effective)
• power is not ruled out, and there is space for dissent

Question 16

hegemony system

Answer 16

• other parties are able to operate as long as they do not have a chance at winning

Question 17

What does the limitating the degree of government contestability rely on?

Answer 17

• soft manipulation tactics (state propaganda, excessive rent distribution, pork-barrel politics)
• socioeconomic pressures that influence political behavior rather than formal restrictions
  *Socioeconomic sanctions on dissenting political behavior on a scale that adjust citizens decisions because of fear of systemic violent repression

Question 18

What is the procedural view on how political empowerment is attainable?

Answer 18

• through participation in decision making process by citizens in democracy the development of human capacities creates a competitive political system
• civic participation = high level of political competitiveness

Question 19

pluralist lens of democratic politics

Answer 19

• rights equally distributed generate a free arena for collective expression of conflicting views in politics
• collective action and shifiting alliances
• encouragement of opposing views and alternation of parties

limited contestability wouldnt be normal if there were prescence of conflicting claims

Question 20

3 important components in citizen defense against political domination

Answer 20

• preserving organziational pluralism (vertial power relations between individuals/state power and horizontal power relations between citizens and groups)
• provides neutral arena for diverse social groups to compete over pol

procedural view leaves this outside of their conceptual lens