Topic three

JESUS IS GOOD.

Democracy

a political regime associated with 'rule of the people' through elections and civil/political rights

Substantive definition of democracy

Include wide participation, fair representation, tolerance, engagement, etc.

Procedural definition of democracy

In a minimalist definition, is easy to measure, to capture. It is essentially what holds the elections and have civil political rights

A history of democracy

• 'Democratic' practices can be found in many societies throughout history and the world

  • I.e., Indigenous norms of deliberation and consensus-seeking

• Liberal democracy's origins are in ancient Greece and Rome;

  • 13th century England (Magna Carta)

  • Later-18th century American and French Revolutions

• Samuel Huntington's (1991) three 'waves' of democratization

  • Democracy was expected to develop the world at this point

Does Democracy Matter?

• Meta-analysis of over 600 academics journal articles; over 1,100 case studies

• Asks if democracy matters beyond political freedom and participation

Positive effects finding of does democracy matter

For human rights, transparency, public health, human development, quality of government, int'l trade

weak/null effects findings

 for inequality, public spending, inflation, social transfer programs

overall findings for does democracy matter

democracy's impact on governance is slightly positive. Democracies appear to be better governed overall

Democracy and Economic Growth

The relationship has long been debated
Some argue there is a positive (but weak) relationship

Some argue there is an inverse relationship

Some argue there is an negative relationship

Some argue the relevance of intersecting factors

• I.e., Human capital, state capacity

Democracy has not been shown to be either a necessary or sufficient condition for economic growth

Modernization theory is conducive to democratization

Freedom in the World

• 2024 saw the 19th consecutive year of global freedom score decline

• Over 40% of countries holding elections faced violence, suppression

• Europe is the world's freest region

  • While 9 countries saw improvements, 7 countries experienced declines

  • Facing issues related to migration crackdowns and political violence

• Global concerns include armed conflict, state repression, persecution of the media, organized crime and elected leaders undermining democratic practices

Three ways to measure democracy

1) freedom house’s global freedom score

2) Varieties of Democracy (V-DEM)

3) The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index

freedom house’s global freedom score

40 indicators for political rights, 60 for civil rights

Varieties of Democracy (V-DEM)

Measures of electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian forms of democracy

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index

60 indicators measuring pluralism, civil rights, government functioning, political participation and political culture

Democracy-related sociolegal issues in liberal socieites

• Access to justice

• Anti-liberal sentiments

• Political polarization and extremism

  • Political polarization feedback loop

  • Echo chamber

• Identity politics

• Immigration and nationalism

• Economic inequality

Liberal state response to democratic decline

• while some leaders have played a role in driving democratic backsliding (i.e., Hungary), others have taken actions to counter threats to democracy (i.e., Germany)

• The liberal state are multi-faced when it comes to liberal decline

  • Ex. Freedom of speech

• Governments in liberal societies have been the source of democratic backsliding

• At the same time some governments have been the source in fighting democratic backsliding

  • Ex. Germany made things about nazi illegal, regulating against fascism, against violent anti-liberal ideas

• Democratic backsliding is when we see indicators of democracy falling

• The state is not inherently democratic

Democratic backsliding is when

we see indicators of democracy falling

Civil society response to democratic decline

•  is itself a necessary pillar of democracy (advocacy, monitoring, publicizing)

  • Also includes anti-democratic forces (i.e., actors, ideologies, mis/disinformation, violent political discourse, etc.)

  • Includes pro-democracy forces (i.e., independent media, NGOs)

    • Civil societies are not pro-democratic either

      • Ex. NGOs, independent media

      • Independent is not state-funded nor corporate funded

      • Ex. Of independent is Democracy Now

  • Civil societies are necessary, but sufficient condition for democracy

    • Civil societies are not inherently democratic, it is necessary for democracy, but is not inherently democracy

    • Think of it like an oxymoron

    • Ex. Populist groups are anti-democratic, but they are civil societies, they are movements

    • Misinformation and disinformation coming from civil societies

  • You cannot have a liberal society without civil societies

Markets/business response to democratic decline

• are often neutral to democratic backsliding

  • Applied the logic of the market, if it works them then they benefit from it

  • They have adapted to it, supported it, benefitted from it or avoided democratic backsliding

• CSR does not operate against their profit-based interest

• Social venture capitalism is investment on market processes, businesses process, or stocks that have to do with social progress and with goods

• They find a market logic that aligns with them

  • Ex. TOMS shoes started off with every shoe they sell, they will give one for free around the world

  • TOMS started off as a social enterprise, profit driven, but also social driven

  • They are making a business case for the social activity, applying market logic to deal with social activity

    • Ex. Bill and Melinda's foundation has market principles for climate change

    • It is an enterprise, so if it is not economically viable, they will throw it out

    • So, it is about how to make profit on it

Social venture capitalism in markets/business response

Is investment on markets process, business process, or stocks that have to do with social progress, with goods

Theories of democracy

Elite theory of democracy, pluralist theory of democracy, discourse theory of democracy, and democratic peace theory

Elite theory of democracy

• I.e., Robert Michel's iron law of oligarchy

• Elite interest to distract us from what the people are looking at

• Ex. No one in the country of the US, rioting for Venezuela's president, Banduro to get arrested, only the elites wanted it

• Our democracy is a guarantee of elite theory

Pluralist theory of democracy

• I.e., Robert Dahl's notion of polyarchy

• Og liberal idea of democracy

• We are not one single group that dominates the political interest, the oligarchy is the small amount of interest

• Polyarchy, is we can have equally interest that coexist together

Discourse theory of democracy

• I.e., Jurgen Habermas' idea of communicative power

• Frankfurt school of critical theory

• Jurgen Habermas came up with the idea that democracy is not on elite power, instead he takes democracy as an discourse, an ongoing way of talking and understanding something

• Communicative power is convincing that you way is better, the power to make other people frame the way they think

• People with communicative power will dominate

Democratic peace theory

• I.e., Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace

• It stood true for some time, like democracy don't fight each other

• Two liberals democracies don't fight each other, because Russia is a democracy, but has fought other democracies, so it has to be liberal

• So, if it was liberal theories then this theory will still hold/stand true

Case study: the united states of america

• The Declaration of Independence (1776) is central to modern democracy's emergence

• US played a central role in the development of the post-WWII liberal international order

• 3 broad concerns

1. Rising inequality

2. Cultural change (individualism replacing civic-ness)

3. Political polarization

• Gini coefficient

• South Africa has the highest Gini coefficient

  • Differentiation between black and white community from the apartheid