Lecture 11 International Actors Flashcards
How can colonial occupation support democratisation?
By supporting pre-independence elections, setting up parliaments, and enforcing settler institutions to help democratise a new independent state.
How can colonial occupation undermine democratisation?
By leaving legacies of conflict from divide-and-rule systems, unresolved border and nationality disputes, biased rule-of-law practices, and under-development.
How can military intervention impact democratic transition and consolidation?
Military intervention can help overthrow authoritarian regimes but often struggles with democratic consolidation, as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan versus Germany and Japan.
What do Levitsky and Way argue about international actors promoting democratisation?
International actors can use sticks and carrots, with effectiveness depending on linkage (ties to the West) and leverage (vulnerability to external pressure).
What is linkage in the context of democratisation?
Linkage refers to the density of a country’s ties to the US, EU, and Western-led multi-lateral institutions, influencing democratic promotion.
What is leverage in the context of democratisation?
Leverage refers to a government’s vulnerability to external pressure, impacting the cost of repression, electoral fraud, or government abuses.
What factors determine the strength of linkage?
Economic, geopolitical, social, communication, and transnational civil society relations.
How can geostrategic importance affect leverage?
Geostrategic importance can undermine leverage as Western states may prioritize maintaining good relationships for strategic benefits over pushing for democratisation.
What is democracy aid?
Voluntary support from states, state organizations, or NGOs for democratic consolidation, including electoral aid, judiciary aid, political party aid, civil society aid, human rights aid, and media aid.
What types of democracy aid are provided most frequently and why?
Judiciary aid and civil society aid are most common because they include broad areas like police and military training and are sometimes allowed even in autocracies.
What debate has the rise of democracy aid sparked?
The debate between democracy aid organizations and development aid organizations about whether a development-first or strong state-first approach is more effective.
What has been found about the impact of democracy aid on democratisation?
A positive but weak impact, with stable investments and concentration in one or two areas being more effective, especially in hybrid regimes and non-backsliding states.
How can autocracy promotion occur? (Way and Nathan)
By serving as an example, promoting authoritarian values, learning authoritarian techniques, pushing back against democratisation, ensuring survival of key regimes, and shaping international institutions to be more regime-neutral
What are some ways autocratic states promote autocracy?
- Serving as an example
- Promoting authoritarian values and using soft power
- Learning authoritarian techniques from each other
- Pushing back against democratisation in areas of influence
- Ensuring the survival of key authoritarian regimes
- Shaping international institutions to be regime-neutral
