Democratic Transitions

Example of bottom up transition

East Germany

T/F The collective action problem refers to top down theories

false, bottom up

what is Olson’s collective action problem

also known as the free-rider problem, it is the fact that individuals of a group have little incentive to contribute to provision of a public good that will benefit all members

What 2 factors determine success of public good provision:

1. Difference between K and N

2. Size of N

in collective action problem, what is K

number of participants needed for success

in collective action problem, what is N

size of group

in collective action problem, if K=N, ___ participate because everyone is essential for success

all

in collective action problem, if K<N, incentive to ___ ___ because each individual is not necessary for success

free ride

in collective action problem, is K = N-1, everyone believes participation is needed —> _____

success

forms of collective action is less likely to be successful when K is significantly smaller than N

true

what did Kuran contribute?

preference falsification

What is the consequence of preference falsification

information bias

what is information bias

citizens will never know how many people actually support the regime because they publicly support it but not actually irl

What is revolutionary threshold

protest size at which citizens will be able to publicly reveal their private feelings about the regime and protest

What are the two “liners” in top down

soft and hard

soft-liners implement liberalization policy to include _____ into regime institutions to stabilize regime

opposition

What does the complete information top down transitions game predict?

democracy never happens

What are the results of both weak and strong opposition from the complete information top down transitions game

weak: broadened authoritarianism

strong: status quo

what is the source of incomplete information?

Kuran’s “preference falsification”

-it’s incomplete information that allows for democratic transition

What are two implications from the top down transition game w/ incomplete info?

1. likely to see institutionalized dictatorships

2. possible to have soft-liners who want to liberalize but will not

What is Huntington’s “The Third Wave” argument? What are the 3 factors?

-global transition to democracy is nonlinear, rather a series of waves with democratic expansions and reversals

Three factors: economic crises, international environment, dev of civil society