Section 1) a i. Procedural v Substantive Democracy

Procedural Democracy

a polit regime in which citizens participate in free, fair, and periodic elections for office and have civil liberties

Emphasis of procedural democracy

how political authority is acquired and exercised

requirements for procedural democracy

• free and fair periodic elections

• political participation

• political competition

• civil liberties

• meaningful opportunities to hold political leaders accountable

Focus of procedural democracy

rules, processes, and institutions of democracy instead of requiring particular government policy outcomes

Substantive democracy

this approach classifies regimes based on the policy outcomes they produce

Requirements for substantive democracy

• equality and justice

• peace, unity, and personal security

• socioeconomic development

Emphasis of substantive democracy

democracy is evaluated partly through the outcomes a political system produces

Compare procedural democracy and substantive democracy table

Challenges of substantive democracy

• less agreement exists about what democracy should entail

• policy outcomes are casually related to regime type, hard to separate democracy itself from democracy’s effects

Challenges of Procedural Democracy

• can lead to fallacy of electoralism if elections are treated as sufficient evidence of democracy

• elections CANNOT be meaningful without political competition and civil liberties

fallacy of electoralism

equating democracy with multiparty elections while ignoring other dimensions of democracy

Procedural democracy needs… (3)

• political participation

• political competition

• civil liberties

political participation

citizens involvement in political activities and decision-making, including voting etc

political competition

ability of parties and candidates to compete meaningfully for political power and challenge incumbents

civil liberties

individual freedom that make democratic participation possible