DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

DIRECT DEMOCRACY

• democracy “rule by the people”

• direct democracy, adopted by athens 2500 years ago meant that citizens made governing decisions

• still exists in few towns but would be almost impossible in large states

DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY

• french rev challenged “divine right” of kings and brought back idea of rule by people

• development of working class and socialist movements pressured governments to adopt universal adult suffrage

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

• citizens elect representatives to legislature to make decision on their behalf

• more by party than by individual representatives

• doesnt guarantee full representations to all citizens

LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

• combines ideology of liberalism which advocates high level of individual freedom with democratic system of governing based on election of representatives

• includes

1. limits on what government can do

2. freedom of expression and organization

3. freedom for communications media

4. free competition for political power

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

• can be held accountable for actions, need citizen approval to continue in office

• transparency needs to exist where government operations are visible to people

• government are responsive to interests of public, notably by holding elections

EXTENDING DEMOCRACY

• representative democracy is limited since it doesnt allow citizen direct involvement

• level of public dissatisfaction = lower voter turnout with governments and politicians even in established democracies suggest there is a democratic deficit

PLEBISCITARY AND DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY

• plebiscitary = involves citizens greater control of public policies and representatives through use of

• referendums = opportunity to vote on a particular issue or proposed law

• citizen initiatives = citizen right through petition to have proposition put to a vote by electorate for approval

• recall elections = allow citizens to remove representatives from office before end of their term of office

deliberative democracy = decisions made based on discussion by citizens rather than elected representatives alone

CHALLENGES FOR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

• closely associated with idea of equality

• demands for equal political and legal rights, also greater social and economic equality

NON DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

• 75 states have non democratic governments

NON DEMOCRATIC VS DEMOCRATIC REGIMES

• non democratic systems differ in 5 ways

1. cant reliably be controlled by citizens and lack accountability

2. seek to restrict citizens participation in politics

3. limit pluralism and only allow organizations that are aligned with regime

4. justice is politicized and partial

5. access to info is limited and media is censored

TYPES OF AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES

1. totalitarian system

2. absolute monarchies

3. personal dictatorship

4. party dictatorship

5. military dictatorship

6. blended dictatorship

7. theocratic dictatorship

TOTALITARIAN SYSTEM

Friederich and Brzenzinski identified 6 traits of totalitarian dictatorship

• official ideology

• single mass party usually led by one man

• police state that used terror to control population

• nearly complete monopoly over all means of mass communication

• similarly complete monopoly over all means of armed combat

ABSOLUTE MONARCHIES

• unlimited power

• political activity is constrained

• parties are often prohibited and there are seldom elections

• usually strict censorship and liberties of those outside ruling circle are radically circumscribed

FEW KINDS OF DICTATORSHIPS

• personal = have single leader who rules according to personal preference than by following law

• party = undemocratic political systems controlled by one party

• in military dictatorships, military provides countrys rulers

• blended dictatorship exhibit more than one form of rule

• theoretic dictatorship is run by religious elites

HYBRID REGIMES

• more open and less repressive than authoritarian but cant be classed as democratic

• boundries are blurry between regimes

• allow some level of pluralism and might permit free media outlets and tolerate political opposition

• elections held regularly

MEASURES OF POLITICAL DEVELOPEMENT

• state capacity

• political stability

• governmental responsiveness and representation

CAUSES OF REGIME BREAKDOWN

1. economic causes

• modernization

• economic deterioration

2. social causes

• theory of rising expectations

• theory of relative deprivation

• ethnic conflict

3. political causes

• corruption

• institutional failure

• war

CONCEPTUALIZING DEMOCRACY (3 APPROACHES)

• Focus on source of authority

• focus on outputs of government

• focus on procedures for constituting the government

DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION

1. none of the major political actors, parties, organized interests, forces or institutions consider there to be any alternative to democratic processes as a means of gaining power

2. no political institution or group has a claim to veto the action of democratically elected decision makers

CHALLENGES OF DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION

1. achieving military control

• loyalty and assistance of armed forces

• dealing with past human rights violations

• determining military share of national budget

2. reforming democratic institutions of government

• legislature

• courts

• bureaucracy

3. fostering the development of civil society

• role as agents of socialization to democratic norms

• role as a check against abuse of power

4. improving relations with the international community

• adressing demands of world bank

• meeting expectations of donor countries

• demonstrating openness to international trade