Lecture 4; Democracy and Dictatorship Flashcards
A State is
an entity that uses coercion and threat of force to rule a given territory
A government is
a set of people who run the state, they are the means through which state power is exercised
A regime is
a set of rules, norms, or institutions that determine how the government is constituted, organized and major decisions are made
a substantive view of democracy
classify political regimes in terms of the outcomes that they produce
procedural or minimalist view of democracy
classify political regimes in terms of institutions or procedures
What is Dahls argument
we should all use a procedural or minimal view of democracy
he did not believed that any large country in the world was ever fully democratized
What are Dahls polyarchies
inclusion
who can participate
contestation
extent to which citizens have organized themselves into competing blocs
A country is a democracy is
the chief executive is elected
the legislature is elected
there is more than one part competing in elections
there has been an alternation in power under identical electoral rules
if these conditions are not met then the country is a dictatorship
contestation occurs when ____
an opposition that has some chance of winning office as a consequence of elections
Ex ante uncertainty
Outcome of election is not known before it takes place
Ex post irreversibility
The winner of the electoral contest actually takes office
how does democracy dictatorships build on Dahl
○ Purely procedural or minimal view of democracy
○ Focuses on contestation
§ Main difference is that DD treats regime type as a dichotomy ( democracy or dictatorship) rather than a continuum (more or less democratic)
What is the Polity scale based on
Competitiveness of executive recruitment
Openness of executive recruitment
Executive constraints/ decision rules
Regulation of political participation
Competitiveness of participation
