Comparative Politics Exam 1

Comparative Politics in the 1950s

- a turning point in the study

- "behavioral movement" fostered scientific approaches

- Interest in the changes taking place in the modernizing societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America

Societal changes during this time (50s)

- The transition from tradition to modernity

- increase in literacy and expansion of scientific and tech knowledge

Modernization theory (1950-60)

offered a framework to understand how countries progress from trad to modern states

1. explains why countries remained underdeveloped (the consequences of a country's internal characteristics: trad economies, institutions and cultural traits)

2. It posulated a path to development (an outline for development), by a diffusion of modern ideas, skills and technonlogy from more advanced countries

Modernization theorists believed that socio-economic development leads to predictable cultural and political changes

Modernization was seen as a homogenizing process (a convergence among societies)

the modernization of agriculture is important as well

Lipset 1959's definition of democracy

A political system that supplies regular constitutional opportunities for changing govt. leaders (competitive elections)

Economic Development Complex (which Lip saw as closely interrelated to form one common factor)

- Industrialization

-Wealth

- Urbanization

- Education

Lipset's hypothesis (H1 and H2)

1. Econ development contributes to the emergence of democracy

2. Econ development helps to sustain democracy once it has been established

Why?

- Econ dev. makes the working class and rich more receptive to demo

- Econ dev. also increases the size of the middle class (the social sector most predisposed to demo.)

Econ dev. brings greater economic security.

As *** It makes the transition from dictatorship to democracy more likely and makes from democracy to dictatorship less likely ****

What econ dev. makes it more likely for the poor/ rich to embrace demo?

Higher levels of econ development makes it more likely for the rich and poor to embrace democracy, as it reduces class conflict, increases political awareness and tolerance, and stabilizes the democratic structures.

Lipset's Hypothesis (H3)

Education contributes to the emergence and stability of demo.

- Education makes people more tolerant of other views, making them less likely to be extremists (educated people prefer multi-party rather than single state)

- This makes them more likely to demand political participation

- The rich (which are afraid of redistribution and exportation through taxes), so they are more likely to embrace democracy for the fear of getting ruled over

⁃ Middle class are more tolerable, increase the size of the middle class

Lipset's Hypothesis (H4)

Religion (protestantism (favors demo, since the values fosterested capitalism) and catholicism (more problematic, in not being tolerant of opposing beliefs)

Lipset's Hypothesis (H5)

Legitimacy makes democratic regimes less likely to break down (when facing w/ crises of effectiveness), the crises of legitimacy often arise during transitions to new social structures, when the government finds itself in trouble and responding to people's demands

Why did Lipset think that Econ dev would favor democracy?

Lipset believed that economic development favors democracy because it increases the size and strength of the middle class, which tends to be more tolerant of opposing views and supportive of democratic norms. Economic development also leads to higher levels of education, urbanization, and income, all of which encourage political participation and reduce class conflict. In addition, development helps stabilize existing democracies by making institutions stronger and societies more moderate.

Other Lipset Hypothesis (H6 and H7)

- Using proportional representation for elections weakens democracy because it fosters multi-party systems (more problematic than two party states)

- Federalism is also conducive to demo. but it can be problematic if it causes cleavages within the system.

Alexander Gerschenkron (Industrialization/ Economist)

1. Modernization theorists misrepresented the paths of European Industrialization

- Mod. Theorists used the English model to describe the paths of European industrialization, but this varies for different European countries

2. There's no fixed prerequisites for industrialization

Industrialization doesn't require

- prior agricultural revolution

- long periods of capital accumulation

- widespread entre values

England ≠ Russia(state-sponsored) ≠ Germany (Banks)

Barrington Moore Jr (demo. vs Dictatorship)

"No bourgeois, no democracy"

- rejected the idea that industrialization

invariably produces democracy

Industrialization can lead to:

- Democracy (England, U.S., France)

- Authoritarianism (Germany, Japan) or Communist (China and Russia)

⁃ two things that may move you in the authoritarian path: No middle classes (a strong middle class makes a democracy) and in some countries when landowners who are politically powerful and able to retain this power)

Samuel P Huntington (Political stability)

- The stability of a political system depends on the relationship between political participation and political institualization

- In the process of econ development and as working class demanded political representation, people who demand from the government, which governments can't always deliver, political demandment can cause instability, not fully developed countries can become instability due to political demand

- poor countries can be more stable than richer countries

⁃ however, some countries in middle stages are better able to handle the chaos due to strong institutions (political parties, ex single party in Mexico). If a country didn't have a political party then the military can control/take over

Things that Hinder democracy from forming:

1. Oil

2. The influence of the Soviet Union

Treisman (2020) says the 3 types of rich countries are

1. A growing group of developed democracies

2. Few dictatorships with high oil revenues

3. Rich/ modern authoritarianism singapore

***Terisman (2020) Conditional Modernization

1. over the last 200 years as authoritarian states grow richers they transition to democracy more often

2. as democracies become richer they reverted back to authorianism less often

3. However these effects don't appear to be operating in the short run

- Which Econ dev. causes a predisposition towards democracy, democratic transitions are triggered by *specific events (econ crises or changes in leadership)

- These triggering events are especially for a actual regime change, as they serve as catalysts (since they happen sporadically, which is why there conditional)

- This is things like leadership turnovers or economic crises

Treisman and econ development

- while econ dev. can make a country more democratic, it can also help to enrich an authoritarian regime

mechanism between econ dev. and demo.

1. social changes leads to the middle class

2. Higher levels of education

3. Value changes associated w/ the changing nature of work

Education and Democracy

found in general that education supports democracy (increases in tolerance, norms, and skills that help them organize to demand democracy).

Inglehart and Welzel (2006)

Focuses on the link between econ dev. and cultural change

two advances:

- Industrialization

-Post industrialization

The transition from:

Aragraib production/ Trad values -> Industrial production/ Secularization, Rationalization

argued that the process of industrialization increased secularization but didn't foster demo. values

The shift from survival values to self expression values (which promotes individual autonomy and democracy)

For the most part high income societies are more ____ and embrace ____ ____ values

secular, self expression

For the most part lower income societies have more ____ values and ____ values

trad, survival

Barbra Geddes (1999)

- Argues that authoritarian regimes differ from each other much like democratic ones

- Authoritarian regimes also struggle with factionalism, competition and struggle

Define what a military regime is and give an example.

A military regime is a ruled by a group of military officers who take control of the government and make key policy decisions. These regimes are usually structured around a clear military hierarchy, and in more institutionalized cases, senior officers agree on a formal or informal arrangement to share power and make collective decisions.

Argentina (1976-83)

Define what a personalist regime is and give an example

A personalist regime is ruled by a single leader who dominates power personally. Access to political office and state resources depends on personal loyalty to the ruler, not on institutions or formal rules.

Ex: Rafael Trujillo in Dominican republic (1930-1961)

Define what a single party regime is and give an example

Are regimes that are ruled by one party who has control over political office and policy. This occurs even when there's other parties who compete in elections (they control career paths of officials and mobilize support for the party)

ex: Revolutionary Party of Tanzania (CCM) 1977- now

What type of regime lasts the longest?

Single-party regimes are very resilient and are brought down by external events rather than internal divisions

- The benefits of cooperation

Ross (2015) 3 important effects of oil

1. it tends to make authoritarian regimes more durable (post 1970s)

2. It leads to heightened corruption

3. It helps trigger violent conflict in lpe and middle income countries post 1970s

Oil and Regime type

two possible effects:

1. Oil could strengthen authoritarian regimes and prevent them from transitioning to demo

2. Oil could weaken demo govts and push them towards authoritarian

Oil helps to ____ a regime

Stabilize

Resource curse

a theory of development that suggests countries with abundant natural resources — especially oil or minerals — are often less likely to democratize and more prone to authoritarianism. Because resource-rich governments earn revenue from exports, they rely less on taxation, which reduces public pressure for representation ("no taxation without representation"). This wealth often funds high military spending and patronage, helping leaders stabilize authoritarian rule and resist democratic reforms.

According to Stepan and Robertson (2003), why are Muslim-majority Arab countriesdescribed as "democratic underachievers", while some non-Arab Muslim-majoritycountries are seen as "democratic overachievers"?

According to Stepan and Robertson, Muslim-majority Arab countries are described as"democratic underachievers" because they tend to have authoritarian regimes despitehaving high levels of GDP per capita (they are less democratic than expected given theirwealth). In contrast, some non-Arab Muslim-majority countries are considered"democratic overachievers" because they have democratic governments despite lowlevels of GDP and economic development.

Why is Koopmans (2021) skeptical of explanations that attribute the lack of democracyin Muslim-majority countries to Western colonialism? *

Koopmans is skeptical of claims that Western colonialism explains the lack of democracy in some countries. He argues that if colonialism caused authoritarianism, then former colonial powers should be less democratic than non-colonized countries — but they are not. In fact, he finds a positive correlation between the length of Western colonial rule and the level of democratization in both Arab-Muslim and non-Arab-Muslim countries.

What is Diamond's (2010) argument about the effect of oil on democracy in Arabcountries?

Diamond argues that oil wealth weakens democracy in Arab countries by allowing regimes to avoid taxation, reducing accountability. Instead of encouraging participation, oil revenues fund public goods and subsidies that buy loyalty, while also supporting strong security forces to suppress dissent. This "authoritarian rentierism" helps entrench autocracy. Diamond also notes that in the Arab world, the effect is especially strong due to historical, political, and cultural factors that reinforce authoritarian rule.