WEEK 2 -Defining and Comparing Democracies

Question 1

What was Plato’s view on Democracy?

Answer 1

Rule by the people = Rule by the mob

People are stupid and don’t know what’s in their best interest.

People who know best are philosophers.

Question 2

According to Aristotle in his classification of Governments what happens if one person rules?

Answer 2

If one person rules and if…
Rulers benefit: TYRANNY
If all benefit: MONARCHY

Question 3

According to Aristotle in his classification of Governments what happens if a few people rule?

Answer 3

If few people rule and if….
Rulers benefit: OLIGARCHY
All Benefit: ARISTOCRACY

Question 4

According to Aristotle in his classification of Governments what happens if the many rule?

Answer 4

If may rule and if….
Rulers benefit: DEMOCRACY
All benefit: POLITY

Question 5

What was Rousseau’s view on Democracy?

Answer 5

• Democracy as means which people achieve freedom
• Has active involvement in citizens
  AND General Will

But…

• Does a general will exist?
• Is it free and egalitarian?

Question 6

What was Mill’s view on Democracy?

Answer 6

• Representative democracy providing development of citizens
• Suffrage for women
• Safeguarding minority rights
• More liberal

Question 7

What are the critiques of Mill’s theory?

Answer 7

Question of being truly equal.

• Not too much influence of citizens
• Exclusion of poor and illiterate
• More qualified people should have more votes

Question 8

What is Schumpeter’s theory of Democracy?

Answer 8

-Minimalist view of Democracy

• Competitive Elitism
  When an average person enters politics,his rationality falls to a primitive level.

Question 9

What is Deliberative Democracy?

Answer 9

Political discussion among (representative) sample of citizens

Question 10

What are the elements of Deliberative Democracy?

Answer 10

• Open deliberation
• Reasoned debate
• Common interest
• Mutual understanding
• Stimulates involvement

Question 11

What is Huntington’s waves of democratisation?

Answer 11

The view that democracy around the world comes in waves.

First wave (1828-1926): Western Europe and Anglo-Saxon world (but some slipping back!)

Second wave (1943-62): West-Germany; Italy; Japan; Latin America; Israel; India

Third wave (1974-91): Spain; Greece; Latin America; Central and Eastern Europe

Question 12

What are the elements of successful liberal democracies?

Answer 12

-Representative democracy

-Regular free and fair
elections

• Political pluralism
• Free ‘civil society’

-Protection of individual
rights

Question 13

Why is Hungary an example of a illiberal democracy?

Answer 13

• Making it so migrants can’t settle
• The Fidesz party controls all branches of government, including the judiciary.

-In a 2014 speech, Orban explained that his vision for Hungary was an “illiberal democracy,”

Question 14

How do social scientists assess democracy?

Answer 14

-Comparative and
quantitative

-Relationship democracy
and e.g. economic
development

Question 15

How do League tables of NGO’s (e.g. Freedom House) assess democracy?

Answer 15

-Comparative and
quantitative

-Ranking as an end in itself

Question 16

How do international organisations and governments?

Answer 16

-Case-oriented and
qualitative

-Policy purpose (e.g. EU
accession; development
aid)

Question 17

What does Przeworski define democracy?

Answer 17

‘regime in which government offices are filled by contested elections’

Question 18

What was Dahl’s (1989) five criteria for democratic processes?

Answer 18

1. Effective Participation
2. Voting Equality
3. Enlightened
   understanding
4. Control of the agenda
5. Inclusion

Question 19

What does it mean by effective participation?

Answer 19

All citizens to have equal opportunities for expressing their preferences throughout process of making binding decisions

Question 20

What does it mean by Voting Equality?

Answer 20

Every citizen to have fair opportunity to determine the political outcome.

Question 21

What’s meant by Enlightened Understanding?

Answer 21

Citizens must have equal opportunities to learn policy alternatives and their consequences

Question 22

What’s meant by control of the agenda?

Answer 22

Citizens must have exclusive opportunity to decide which matters are placed on public agenda and how they get there.

Question 23

What’s meant by inclusion?

Answer 23

All permanent adult residents must enjoy full rights of citizenship.

Question 24

What are the problems with measuring/defining democracy?

Answer 24

How to observe and score reliably?

How do you aggregate all this to a single value?

Western bias?

Question 25

What is Lijphart’s typology of democracies?

Answer 25

There’s two models (majoritarian and consensus) and that’s split into a federal and a unitary element.

Question 26

What are the distinctions between a federal majoritarian model and an executive majoritarian model?

Answer 26

Majoritarian Executive: (Parties dimension)
- Single Party (Majority Govt.)
- Dominant Executive
- Two party system 
- Majoritarian electoral 
  system 
- Pluralism

Majoritarian Federal: (Unitary dimension)
- Unitary, centralised govt. 
- Unicameralism (practice of 
  having one legislative or 
   parliamentary chamber)
- Flexible constitutions 
- Par

Question 27

What are the distinctions between a federal consensus model and an consensus executive model?

Answer 27

Consensus Executive (Party dimension):
- Multiparty coalitions 
- Power balance executive- 
  legislative
- Multiparty system 
- Proportional Rep.
- Corporatism

Consensus Federal (Unitary Dimension):
- Federal, decentralised 
  govt.
- Bicameralism ( Practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers) e.g: House of Lords and Commons
- Rigid Constitutions
- Judicial Review
- Independent Central Banks

Question 28

What is the performance of different types of democracy?

Answer 28

Little difference in terms of governing effectiveness and macro-economic performance.

Consensus countries score higher on certain indicators of ‘democratic quality’
i.e:

Representation: of women; electoral participation; satisfaction with democracy

Policy outcomes: provision of welfare; environmental protection; imprisonment rates; development aid