Lecture 2: Measuring Democracy Flashcards
What is a categorical concept of democracy
The replacement of an undemocratic political system with a democratic one. It is a dichotomous concept, where a country either is or is not democratic.
What is a graded concept of democracy
The process of making a political system more democratic, regardless of whether that system is a democracy/autocracy/something else. Continuous concept, where a country is more or less democratic.
Reasons for a lean concept of democracy
- It avoids disagreement on which attributes should be given to the definition of democracy because it is connected to normative concerns and ideology.
- Several factors that could be included in a broader concept of democracy are factors that may be causally related to democracy. Including a factor like socioeconomic equality, for example, in the definition would mean that democracies don’t need to strive to pursue socioeconomic equality, because it would already be in the definition.
- It makes us able to deal with the discussion if democracy is best thought of as a dichotomy or a continuum.
Choosing between a dichotomous or continuous concept of democracy can depend on:
- Why you want to pick between either one. Some research benefits from one more than the other.
- Applying a continuous view only to countries already classified as democracies.
There is also the argument that you can do this with non-democratic countries. Not all autocracies are alike, and some adhere to more democratic values than others.
Multi-dimensional view vs unidimensional view to measure democracy
Having democracy measured with more characteristics or just one.
One way of bettering the qualities of existing democracies
A more widespread introduction of direct forms of democracy, opening up more ways of involvement by the population and, by doing so, increasing their understanding of the necessity and relevance of political and civil engagement.
Influences shaping today’s world that played a part in the development of modern democracies
- Socio-structural and political-cultural factors. These change relatively slowly during modernisation and globalisation. Modernisation and globalisation can move faster because of the revolution in communication technology and the industrial/cultural divide that comes with this.
- New challenges because of global economic and environmental problems. International finance capitalism cannot be controlled or regulated by national governments alone. They have lost part of their sovereignty and democratic control and may have new forms of post-democracy.
- Increasing social inequality, severe economic crises, political conflicts, and rising aspirations have led to new waves of migration and the spread of cultural conflicts and violence.
Actor and situation-specific factors which played a part in the development of modern democracies
In times of more complexity, we see an increase in the personalisation of politics. People tend to put more trust in some prominent leaders rather than looking at party programmes and trying to make a well-informed choice on difficult issues. This has led to an increase in populist and nationalist movements.
What are states
“an entity that successfully claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a specified territory” (Weber, 1918)
- associated with a piece of land and sometimes the presence of people and institutions
- guarantee a minium level of security for citizens
- generate resources to maintain public services and state institution
What are political regimes
“the rules governing the distribution of power and the relationships between the agents of power” (Lindberg 2006: 6)
- the way that that territory is govern
- patterns/relationships of power, relatively stable but less stable than states
What are governments
The leadership that runs the state
so, actors, change more often, depending on type of regime
minimalist/procedural definitions of democracy Huntington
- huntington (1991): democracy is a political system in which the most powerful collective decision makers are selected through fair, honest and periodic elections. Candidates freely complete for votes and in which virtually all the adult population is eligible to vote.
two turnover test democracy, if elections resulted in peaceful alternation of power, twice=rule of thumb to decide whether regimes made transitions to democracy
minimalist/procedural definitions of democracy Schumpeter
- schumpeter (1975): the democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the peoples vote
minimalist/procedural definitions of democracy Przeworski
- przeworski et al (1996): democracy is a system in which parties lose elections
Expanded procedural definitions of democracy Dahl
Dahl (1989): Polyarchy consists out of 7 elements
electoral:
1. elected officials. Control over government decisions about policy is constitutionally vested in elected officials
2. free and fair elections. Frequent and fairly conducted elections, coercion is uncommon.
3. inclusive suffrage
4.right to run for office for all adults
Non-electoral
5. freedom of expression
6. alternative information, alternative sources of information exist and are protected by the law
7. associated autonomy, citizens also have a right to form independent associations or organizations, including political parties and interest groups.
