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PS3086 Democracy and Democratisation Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

PS3086 Democracy and Democratisation

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

What is Democracy?

1. Voting (Universal Suffrage) and ability to run for office
2. Free and fair elections
3. System of checks and balances

Increased Democr­ati­sation after 1945

Almost all wealthy, indust­ria­lised countries adopted Democracy
As well as most of the poor Asian, Eastern European, African and Latin American countries
Less Democratic breakdown compared to 1920/30s, Greece, Chile, Pakistan

Liberal Rights and Democracy

Must Democracy be Liberal? Individual freedom and human rights
Liberal Democracy - Is it Democr­atic? How Liberal is it? How stable is it?

The Backslide of Democracy

Freedom House's Freedom In The World 2018
US withdrawal from the protection of global democracy
Pointing to events such as the fall of Robert Mugabe's democr­ati­cally elected regime in Zimbabwe
Rise of author­itarian influence of China and Russian aggression challe­nging Democratic powers

Challenges to Democracy

It has not all been smooth sailing - challenges to transition succes­sfully from regimes
Early 2000s Orange revolution in Ukraine, where elections were shown to be rigged, massive protests and the eventual violent riots after the next regime change
Rise of Populist, Author­itarian leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil
Specif­ically right-wing populism which tends to challenge Liberalism with elements of xenophobia and racism which directly contradict the liberal rights of the individual
Unsust­ainable debt-f­inanced democracy leads to high social costs for minority groups, more spending on debt than social infras­tru­cture for those who need it. eroding trust in the system
2019 UN report COVID-19 and the Looming Debt Crisis, showed than 1 in 8 countries spend more on debt than social infras­tru­cture like healthcare and education
 

What Democracy has come to mean

Original Greek interp­ret­ation of direct male political suffrage, and further developed by thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke and Rosseau (directly led to French Revolu­tion)
French Revolu­tion, democratic despotism of Napoleon when the people favoured author­itarian leaders
Propag­anda, rule of law, violence, counter to freedom of speech
Reflecting the tendency of illiberal democracy, liberalism originally meant to contain democracy by making sure only the politi­cally educated citizenry should have partic­ipa­tion, public rights and instit­utions, freedom
Prosperity does not equal freedom, Thomas Mann said we should not teach the classical definition of Democracy

Liberalism

Adam Smith classical economic liberalism
State should only enforce the economic side, while protecting values and instit­utions
Free, fair, contested elections
Separation of powers and branches of government
Market economy, rule of law
Protection of human rights and freedoms
Limits on the authority of government through consti­tution

Illiberal Democr­acies

Fareed Zakaria in 1997, where govern­ments are democr­ati­cally elected but proceed to violate the rule of law, freedom of speech and basic rights and liberties
Nominal democracy on the rise, only surface level democratic standards, eg North Korea, Russia, Cuba,
Allows them to hold onto power eg Russia where political opponents and dissidents are openly persecuted
Specific form of Populism that adheres to the hetero­nor­mative and protects the majority and the elite
Possesses democratic principles on the surface, some might even have democratic instit­utions, but freedom, rule of law, rights and liberties become secondary or unimpo­rtant
More of a threat to repres­ent­ative vs nominal democracy
Eg of Viktor Orban, Hungarian president
Tension between democracy and freedom, Liberalism as an ideology allows minorities to challe­nge­/in­terfere in the running of the country, they are not needed
Allowing market liberalism to provide welfare for minorities but ok for majority working class, dont need migrants
 

Democracy as Partic­ipation

Rousseau unders­cored the idea that a good political system allows its citizens the freedom to partic­ipate in political life (social contract, political will)
People were free only when they were actually voting to choose their leaders or actively discussing proposed legisl­ative changes
Dahl (1989) defends partic­ipatory democracy (Polyarchy and necessary instit­utions)
To replicate in the modern world the virtues of the political system invented in Athens in classical times where the the assembly of all full citizens were encouraged to attend, partic­ipate and vote (come together in a republic and discuss)
Partic­ipation is good for both the individual and society, thus we should seek it out
To choose the rules and people that govern us, expression of human desire and need for civic equality
French revolution as a clear and extreme example of partic­ipation and equality
Fukuyama (1992) and Hegel argue that the radical ideas of the French revolution secula­rised the need for political equality
A need for some formal way to enshrine and instit­uti­onalise the concept of equality of the people's will, which does not belong exclus­ively to religion, as civic equality meant everyone possessed the unders­tanding and desire to congregate and debate issues for the common good

Dahl

In Dahl's 1961 Who Governs, he analysed the political system of his community, New Haven, he construed it as a reflection of the US, 2 strong parties with a long history and a similar historic progre­ssion from the aristo­cracy to party rule with people of varying economic and ethnic backgr­ounds
A variety of leaders in different fields, social, political, economic, with goals that did not overlap
The economic difference prevented equal political partic­ipation from all citizens, and led to a questi­oning of whether any government could be fully democr­atic, along partic­ipatory demo lines, but he still believed it was important to have free market as opposed to full govt control
in 1989 Democracy and its Critics, he noted how fully partic­ipatory democracy was only possible in a small community such as Athens, and even then women and slaves could not vote
Political thinkers came to accept that repres­ent­ation was the only way to sustain democracy in a larger country (elect­ions)
Though Dahl apprec­iated the rise of many democr­acies in the latter half of the 20th century, from Eastern Europe to South America, he doubted whether any country could meet all of democr­acy’s goals, noneth­eless he was impressed that the vision of equal political governance between people
In 1971 Polyarchy, he described the 'ideal' democracy in the form of necessary instit­utions, where political power was held by different social organi­sations and civil groups that were able to work indepe­ndently
Universal suffrage and the right to run for public office • Free and fairly conducted elections for all adults • Availa­bility and observance of the right to free speech and protection to exercise it • The existence of and free access to altern­ative inform­ation (not controlled by govern­ment) • The undisputed right to form and to join relatively autonomous organi­zat­ions—in partic­ular, political parties (and, crucially, parties in opposi­tion) • Respon­siv­eness of government (and parties) to voters • Accoun­tab­ility of government (and parties) to election outcomes and govern­ment.