Week 2 - Political regime Flashcards
What does Plato’s Ship of Fool suggest?
Democracy may not be good as people on the votes will choose a leader who gives them leisure, not the most competent one -> thus, you need a Levathian (leader who makes decisions for the people)
What is the procedural (minimalist) definition of democracy by Dahl (1971)?
- focuses in the mechanics of how leaders are selected and how competition is maintained
- concept of polyarchy is important
What is the substantive definition of democracy?
- focuses on the broader outcome of democracy
- expect a social justice, protect the rule of law, and promote inclusive governance
- Freedom house use political right and civil rights to evaluate the quality of democracy
What is Lipset’s argument about the economic cause of democracy?
argues that economic development is strongly related to democracy: as the middle class (bourgeoisie) grows, country is more likely to become a democracy
What quote did Barrington Moore say about economic cause of democracy
“No bourgeoisie, no democracy” - argues that the middle class is crucial to the development of democracy
What does the Inglehart and Welzel’s modernisation theory suggest about the economic cause of democracy?
- well-functioning democracy is a result of the high share of democratic norms in society
- emphasises higher education and a large urban-middle class -> more ED means people are more aware of their rights and political circumstances -> increased political participation and democratic governance
What is the traditional society (Agrarian society)?
In traditional society, (e.g. pre-revolutionary Russia) people worked in primary sector but when they move to work in factories -> they developed class consciousness -> caused Russian Revolution
What are the two economic hypotheses for democracy?
- Wealth correlates with democracy (rich countries have more democracies than poor countries)
- Democratic survival (one democratic country is unlikely to backslide into dictatorship)
How does diversity show that not all countries fit into the modernisation theory?
India, for example, is poor but democratic due to its large diversity and the presence of multiple groups making it hard for one group to dominate the nation
What is the Resource Curse theory?
Many rentier states (Arab oil producing countries) cannot be classified as democracies as they have negative polity scores. This is because they are less reliant of the preference of their people and their taxes as they only rely on their natural resources -> more autocratic than democratic
What is the ‘resource paradox of plenty’?
idea that the Rentier states who are rich in natural resources have worse economic development outcomes and more authoritarian government
What is Huntington’s argument for the cultural cause of democracy?
that the world is divided into different cultural and civilization differences and that these civilizations are likely to clash over fundamental values and way of life - “Clash of civilizations”
What is the difference between The classic cultural theory and Cultural modernization theory?
- classic culture: democracy is more common in certain countries that value liberty, freedom of expression, and equality
- cultural modernization: economic development does not directly lead to democracy, but it triggers cultural change which in turn promotes democracy.
what is secularism?
keeping religion separate from government and public institutions
What is the argument against Huntington’s Clash of Civilisation hypotheses?
- Gender equality, tolerance, and personal freedom are key factors that determine the level of democracy in a country, rather than the clash between entire civilizations
