Dictatorship and Democracy

Substantive vs Procedural Democracy

Substantive

-Free and fair

-Look at the outcomes rather then procedures

Procedural

-Presence, or absence, of elections flawed

Cohabitation

Semi-presidential systems where the president and prime minister are from different parties

"Greed" - Civil War

Economic factors play a big role

History of Authoritarianism

-Not democratic but not fully totalitarian

-Happens through democratic backslide

Self-Coup

A seizure of power by a sitting president or executive to illegally retain or increase control

Direct vs indirect democracies

Direct

-Problematic

-Switzerland

Indirect

-"Republics"

-Every other country

Globalization

Tight linkage of the world in trade, politics, media, travel, social beliefs, and even disinformation

Rostow's Stage Theory

-Stages of economic growth

-How societies move from "traditional" to "modern" economy

-Traditional society, take-off prep, take-off, drive to maturity, high mass consumption

WW Rostow

-Five stages of economic growth

-Modern theory of economic development

-Development is linear and universal

EOI

-Export-Oriented Industrialization

Modern State vs Earlier State

Early

-Bribes, stirrups, power was personal

Modern

-Standing armies, strong states, infrastructure, centralized

State vs Regime vs Government

State: an organization that maintains a monopoly of force over a territory

Regime: the norms and rules regarding individual freedom and collective equality

Government: leadership or elite in charge of state

Sovereignty

the authority of a state to govern itself by making it's own laws and controlling territory

Feedback Loop with Military Effects

-state capacity and military power reinforcing each other

-stronger the state, stronger the army

Jared Diamond

-why societies develop faster than others

-societies with fertile land, domestic plants and animals, good climate develop agriculture first

Alexander Gerschenkron

-timing of development

-everyone does not start at the same place

-begins with the industrial revolution

-land is no longer wealth

-other countries did not go through the same process as Britain

Stirrups

-armed knights dominated

-not many, expensive

-new technology

Quantitative research

-measures and test using numbers and stats

Ways that states regulate markets

price control, taxes, regulations, policies

"Dependency theory"

-world is divided

-unequal relationships

-limits modernization theory

-underdeveloped

Importance of Grain in Ancient State Building

supports large populations, kept people fed, funded armies and public works

Empirical vs Normative

Empirical

- Descriptive, measurable, facts

Normative

-Value judgement, opinionated

Market Failure

When the free market does not use resources effectively, negative outcome

Comparative Politics

Studying politics in other places

Social Democracy

Strong state role, lots of public services and taxes, lower inequality, good job security, medium growth

States vs Nations

-state: territory

-nations: cultural group

Liberalism

high inequality, little job security, high growth, boom to bust (USA)

Late, Late Developers

Russia, competition is fierce, starved of capital because bad place to invest, repression

Early States as "Protection Racket"

-Charles Tilly

-"We won't kill you for your money"

Charles Tilly

-Contentious politics and social movements

-"War made the state, and that state made war"

Most Similar System Design

Comparing where you are trying to match all features but one

Benedict Anderson

Nations are "Imagined communities" where people imagine themselves in a social web

Most Different System Design

Comparing where you are trying to match no features but one

Ratchet Effect

when government power, tax, and admin capacity expand during crisis and do not fully shrink back

State Role in Market Creation

Makes rules, institutions, and infrastructure possible

Mercantilism

-state regulates market, limits trade

-high inequality, job security varies

-medium growth

(Brazil)

Andre Gunder Frank

-dependency theory

-idea that rich states keep poor ones down through trade

-Rich countries manipulate

Communism

state runs entire economy, no private property, low inequality, high job security (North Korea)

Externalities

side effects in the economy that impact those not involved with the transaction

Qualitative Research

explores using non-numerical data

Resource Curve

EOI can lead to resource curve

Ethnogensis

The process where and ethnic group forms

Key Importance of War

drive societal change

Changes on battlefield that lead to changes in state forms

larger armies, gun powder, tactics, horses

Correlation vs Causation

Correlation: 2 variables tend to change together

Causation: One variable directly causes a change in the other

Endogeneity

being unable to figure out cause and effect

Public Goods

Goods that when some is used the amount available for others does not reduce, and it is impossible to stop others using even if they do not pay

Westphalian State

the principle that each state has sovereignty over it's territory

Gunpowder

new technology, peasants can resist aristocrats, employ larger armies

Early Developers

-Britain

-Little state involvement

-Profits are high

-Merchant-oriented

ISI

Import substitution industrialization

Late Developers

-France and Germany

-face competition from start

-industries cannot easily raise funds on their own

-state has involvement with business

Rational Ilegal Military Dictatorship

Military sizes power in a coup, but military leaders are neither charismatic nor traditional

Westminster System Features

A parliamentary government with the executive and legislature linked, a head of state and head of government who is accountable to legislature (UK, Canada, Australia)

History of Democracy

-The Elizabeth Consolidation

cultural process, religious settlements, centralization and local governence

Electoral Systems

participation, voting and election, referenda and initiatives

Michels Iron Law of Oligarchy

all organizations, even democratic ones, eventually become an oligarchy where a small elite group holds power

Coup Trap

past coups make future coups more likely

Importance of "Supply" Legislation

gives government the authority to spend public money, making it the fundamental basis for a government to operate (Westminster system)

Votes of No-confidence

a formal vote in the Westminster system by which members of a legislature or similar deliberative body vote they no longer support leader

"Grievance" Civil War

conflicts arise from factors like inequality, political marginalization, or identity based injustices such as ethnic or religious divisions

Duverger's Law

electoral systems with single member districts and a "first-past-the-post" or plurality voting system, tend to produce a two-party system

Rebellions

organized violent uprisings against an established government or authority, stemming from grievances like; oppression, inequality, or lack of representation

Sultanism

unrestrained personal run and fusion between leader's public and private interest

-state becomes personal property

-little rule of law, little to no restraint on elites

Conflict Trap

poor societies are pron to war, makes them poorer, wars are easy to start and hard to stop

Totalitarianism

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator

Terrorism

the use of violence by nonstate actors against civilians in order to meet political gain

Democracy

-describes how some countries are organized politically

-government system which rulers are held accountable for their actions by citizens

Hybrid Regimes

"Illiberal democracies"

-neither democracies nor autocracies

-partly free

-not necessarily on their way to full democracies or authoritarian

Semi-presidentialism

-only a few (France)

-combination of presidential and parliamentary

-moderately powerful

-seems to combine worst of all systems

Traditional Authoritarianism

a form of rule where power is concentrated in a single leader or small group

First Past the Post vs Proportional Representation

first past the post

-larger shore wins seat

-fewer and larger parties

proportional representation

-votes cast for parties

-seats divided among basis of votes

-more small parties

Relationship between ethnic diversity and civil war onset?

-complex and debated

-some research suggesting no direct link and others say it depends on factors

Contemporary Democracy

democratization is correlated with modernization as societies become better educated and economically strong they seek greater control of state

Coups

a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government

Held et al's four criteria for evaluation globalization

extensity, intensity, velocity, impact

Head of State vs Head of Government

head of state

-country's symbolic national representation

head of government

-responsible for forming government and implementing policies

Authoritarianism

a political system in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public

Civil Wars

sustains combat organized armed forces, minimum of 1,000 deaths happen in 12 months

Presidentalism

-1 person in power directly elected by population that has sole power, fixed term

-direct election, voting, clarity

-more gridlocked

Contentious Politics

social movements, protests, strikes, riots, civil disobedience, and revolutions

Democratic Breakdown

when democracies transition into hybrid regimes or outright autocracies

Charismatic/Personality Cults

individuals perceived to be extraordinary (Hitler)

Revolutions

public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing government and regime

Rational/Legal Single Party Rule

a party dominates society aiming to control all aspects of life

China

-monocracy

-strong state=strong society

Russia

-statism

—state is the center of society

-absolutism

—ruler can not be challenged

-patrimonialism

—state is leader’s personal property

Japan

-democratic