Comp. Pol Ch 3 (Democratic Regimes)

Regime

the set of rules, norms (aka informal rules), or institutions that determine how the government is constituted, how it is organized, how decisions are made and how it uses its power. 

Schumpeter defines democracy as…

that institutional arrangement for arriving at a political decision in which individuals acquire the power to decide  by means of competitive struggle for the people’s vote. 

Popper defines democracy as…

system in which citizens can get rid of governments without bloodshed

Pzreworski defines democracy as

System in which there are competitive elections, more than one party, alternations of power

Samuels textbook defines democracy as

a political system in which rulers are accountable to the ruled through institutionalized participation and contestation

Accountability

a political mechanism that offers citizens regular and realistic opportunities to remove rulers from office through peaceful and contestational means

Participation

institutionalized opportunities for participation by all citizens

Contestation

real competition for power between alternative groups

Participatory

ongoing citizen involvement in design and implementation of policy outside of elections

Historical examples of Non Democracy include…

Chile and England

According to Dahl, democracy is

The continuing responsiveness of government to the preferences of citizens, considered as political equals

Dimensions of Democracy (Dahl)

contestation and inclusion

Dahl’s democracy requires

citizens ability to formulate preferences

-citizens ability to express preferences to fellow citizens and government through individual and collective action

-citizens preferences weighted equally 

Electoral autocracy

elections are formally held for the chief executive and the legislature but they fail to meet minimum prerequisites for competition  and participation (Dahls list)

Liberal Democracy

fair and free elections, minimum standards for competition and participation are met. Civil liberties, access to justice, and law are present.

Dahl’s list

-freedom to form and join organizations

-freedom of expression

-right to vote

-(almost) universal eligibility for public office

-right of political candidates to contest for support

-availability of alternative sources of info

-free and fair elections

-government institutions for policymaking depend on votes

Closed autocracy example

North Korea

Electoral autocracy examples

Uganda and Phillipines

Liberal Democracy example

Chile

Majoritarian system

candidates or parties with the most votes win

Single Member District Plurality (maj.)

whoever gets most votes win, they don’t need majority. Can be biased against small parties, good for constituency services

Duverger’s Law

Single member district plurality encourages 2 party systems

Alternative Voting/Ranked Choice voting (maj)

occurs in single districts, absolute majority is needed. Voters rank candidates options and if no one gets first place majority, candidates with least votes eliminated and votes are reallocated. Good for divided societies as it advocates against extremism

Majority runoff (maj)

Voters cast votes for candidates in single member districts, if no one gets majority it goes to a second round runoff. Can be costly as it may require multiple elections

Proportional Representation System

in multi-member districts, seats are allocated proportionally depending on the share of votes won by parties

Duverger’s Hypothesis

Proportional election systems favor multiparty systems

List PR

Parties present a list of candidates to voters and the # of candidates elected from the list is determined by the party share of the vote

Closed Party List (PR)

Order of candidates determined by party and voters vote for a party, no preference for candidates

Open party list (PR)

Voters vote for their party and favored candidate within the party

Electoral systems can impact

effective balance vs. constrained // majority vs. consensus

Democratic regime most likely to survive

Parliamentary

Separation of origin

executive and legislative branches elected separately

Separation of survival

members of both the executive and legislative branches serve for fixed terms of office.

Regime that enjoys both separation of survival and origin

Presidential system

Parliamentary systems

executive and legislative branches DO NOT have sep. of origin. Voters elect legislature » legislature elects an executive and a Prime Minister » PM selects their cabinet.

Semi Presidential (Hybrid)

Has sep. of origin. The legislature still elects a PM who forms a cabinet (president usually approves PM). PM is responsible to the legislative majority

In Perils of Presidentialism, Juan Linz argued that in a presidential system…

-Both exec and legislative branches have competing claims to legitimacy

-gridlock and ineffective government are produced when they disagree

-fixed terms can create challenges

-”winner takes all”

According to Linz, UNLIKE a Parliamentary system, when disputes rise a President CANNOT

bolster authority with a Confidence Vote (like a PM can)

What is common in a Parliamentary system, according to Linz?

sharing power and coalition governments

How does Nyerere define democracy in OPOG

Government by discussion rather than one of force

Combination for Democracy according to Nyerere

Freedom + well being of individual who has right to join citizens in choosing leaders + affairs of country conducted by free flowing discussion

New countries according to Nyerere

-they tend to have no natural unity due to divisions and overwhelming amount of tasks

-they can’t afford to treat their citizens in the same tolerant way that countries with longstanding democracy do