Summary lectures Comparative politics: Democratization (MAN-BCU2011EN)
Lecture 1: What is democracy?
Direct democracy Athens
- Small group needed, other way it would be difficult to make decisions
- Limited citizenship
- Time consuming
Representative democracy Its the standard model now
- Variation in systems (two-party, multiparty etc)
Two dimensions most important:
1. Rule of law (liberalism) freedom of speech, constraints on the executive, rule of law etc
2. Rule by people (democracy) free and fair elections, pluralist political parties, opposition etc
Democracy means different things to different people
But there are many more possible dimensions than only rule of law and rule by the people
Does democracy matter?
Quite strong evidence that democracy leads to:
- Better human rights, less corruption, human development/health, quality of government, trade, technological
change and FDI
Pretty strong evidence for positive impact on social and economic policy outcomes
- Education, environment, growth etc
But NO effect found on
- Inequality, inflation and public spending
Trends
First wave: less power for king
- Elites want more influence proto parliaments
Second wave: decolonization (more democratic countries)
- After WWII (interbellum) re-democratization
- Cold war
Third wave: (1974) collapse dictatorship Europe
- End cold war (collapse Soviet Union
o Hybrid regimes
Lecture 2: Measuring democracy & patterns of regime change
What is democracy?
Democracy (and autocracy) has two dimensions
1. Rule by the people electoral dimension
2. Rule of law liberal dimension
You need to decide which dimensions to include and how to weigh them, to have a certain measurement
Political regimes
States= entities that successfully claim a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a specified territory
- Minimal safety
- Stable
Regimes= rules governing the distribution of power and the relationships between the agents of power
- Patters and relationships of power
- Relationships between agents of power
- Medium stable
Governments= leadership that runs the state
1
,- Actors
- Least stable
Hybrid regimes
Hybrid= have a rule of law and rule by the people, but not fully
Electoral democracy= have rule by people, but not all of rule of law
What is democracy?
Definitions:
Minimal definitions= minimal baseline
- Rule of the people popular decision making elections
- They usually have more requirements about elections
Expanded procedural definitions= more than just elections
- Some guarantees that make elections meaningful
- Dahl: strive for polyarchy
o Non electoral requirements + electoral requirements
- Schmitter & Karl: add for real existing democracies
o Absence reserved power domains (elected officials must be able to rule)
o State sovereignty (state must be formally and de facto independent)
- O’Donell: adds rule of law, all citizens including the incumbent are subject to the rule of law
Substantive definitions= include desirable outcomes
- Substantive outcomes
- Problem no longer able to see the effects of democracy
o Becomes circular
Varieties of democracy= different versions of expanded procedural definitions
Advantages and dis-advantages
Ladder of abstraction= from one general term to less abstract
- Adding more elements
- Less abstract
Dichotomous= yes or no
Continuous= on a scale
Measurements
Concepts measurements
- Concept tree
Indicators make measurements possible
Concept tree= big concept split up in dimensions, those into sub-dimensions which give indicators
Data quality
2
,Lecture 3: Colonial, authoritarian and democratic legacies
Does democracy matter?
Normative why do you care? Prescriptive
Empirical evidence based Descriptive
Quite strong evidence that democracy leads to:
- Better human rights
- Less corruption & quality of government
- Human development/health
- Trade, technological change and FDI
Pretty strong evidence for positive impact on:
- Social & economic policy outcomes (education, environment & growth)
But no effects found on:
- Inequality
- Inflation
- Public spending
Studying regime change
Regime change= a movement of political regimes along a continuum from more authoritarian to more democratic
Democratization= moving grom authoritarian to democracy
Autocratization= moving from democracy to authoritarian
- Gradual movement
- Doesn’t mean that it is stable
Democratic consolidation= stabilizing democracy
Autocratic consolidation= stabilizing autocracy
- In transition
Democratic backsliding/recession= moving towards
autocracy, while you’re still in a democracy
Breakdown= a sudden moment when switching regime
Transition, stability and deepening
Democratization processes consist of three phases
(Munck, 2009)
1. Democratic transition= implies the shift of a political regime from autocracy into democracy
2. Democratic stabilization/consolidation= the stabilization of the new regime, once the transition happened
- Not dependent on how long it has been a democracy
- Idea of immunity to backsliding
3. Democratic deepening= refers to processes of gradual improvement in the quality of democracy once a
democracy is stable
- Very gradual processes
The transition is hard to pinpoint
Causes of change vs causes of stabilization
- Transition is easier than stability (the causes may differ a lot)
- Causes of transition death dictator, people revolution, end of war etc
- Causes of stabilization institutions, education, experiences etc
Causes of democratization
Long-term causes= historical
Intermediate causes= institutions
Proximate causes= political actors, civil society
and events
Transition, stability and deepening
First wave: 1789-1918
3
, - Western Europe, North-America, Latin-America
- Constitutional monarchies, proto-parliaments & ending universal suffrage
- Gradual development of state, division of power, liberalization and then suffrage
Second wave: 1945-1960
- Re-democratization Western European regimes (not Eastern-European regimes)
- Newly independent colonies in Asia, Africa etc
- End of war / independence leading to regime breakdown & transition to holding elections
Early third wave: 1974-1989
- Portugal, Spain, Greece and mostly Latin America pacted/discrete transitions
- Eastern Europe & most former Soviet Republics as well
- Gradual liberalization leading to regime breakdown & transition to holding elections
Later democratizers: 1989-present
- African and (some) Asian regimes imposed/protracted transitions
- Elections first, then liberalization democratization-by-elections
- Longer and much less clear-cut processes of change
Types of transition & authoritarian legacies
The way transition happens affects the stability
- Revolutions violent transition
- Elite-split often goes smooth
o But people with the perks in autocracy keep their money
Types of transitions:
- Violent vs Non-violent:
o Non-Violent you don’t need to build op your country
o Violent post-war reconsolidation (more difficult to stabilize)
- Pacted vs Rupture
o Pacted elite view with agreement of autocracy
Lack of transitional justice, can create problems later on
o Rupture revolutionary (there was disagreement before)
- Imposed vs Indigenous
o Indigenous Initiated by people inside the country (internal)
This works better, because people choose themselves
o Imposed initiated by the outside (external)
Without local support it is less likely to stabilize
- Non-violent, pacted & indigenous (home-grown) usually works best
Authoritarian regimes types, types of transition & legacies
You always have left-overs that influence the democracy
Types of authoritarian legacies (Loxton):
- Authoritarian successor parties= longing back for the old regime, helps stabilizing (they wont want to take up
force) & legacy to bring people that are pro-authority into democracy
o Positive
- Authoritarian constitutions= A new constitution brings more instability (change it later on) & they have
negative effect (give some people special/more power and hard to get away with)
o Negative
- Sub-national authoritarian enclaves= if they vote (stabilize), but if not and they present an alternative they
destabilize
o Positive & Negative
Colonial history
Three main arguments about how they affect democratization
1. Colonial legacy: When they become independent, they take institutions from colonists (political system)
4
Lecture 1: What is democracy?
Direct democracy Athens
- Small group needed, other way it would be difficult to make decisions
- Limited citizenship
- Time consuming
Representative democracy Its the standard model now
- Variation in systems (two-party, multiparty etc)
Two dimensions most important:
1. Rule of law (liberalism) freedom of speech, constraints on the executive, rule of law etc
2. Rule by people (democracy) free and fair elections, pluralist political parties, opposition etc
Democracy means different things to different people
But there are many more possible dimensions than only rule of law and rule by the people
Does democracy matter?
Quite strong evidence that democracy leads to:
- Better human rights, less corruption, human development/health, quality of government, trade, technological
change and FDI
Pretty strong evidence for positive impact on social and economic policy outcomes
- Education, environment, growth etc
But NO effect found on
- Inequality, inflation and public spending
Trends
First wave: less power for king
- Elites want more influence proto parliaments
Second wave: decolonization (more democratic countries)
- After WWII (interbellum) re-democratization
- Cold war
Third wave: (1974) collapse dictatorship Europe
- End cold war (collapse Soviet Union
o Hybrid regimes
Lecture 2: Measuring democracy & patterns of regime change
What is democracy?
Democracy (and autocracy) has two dimensions
1. Rule by the people electoral dimension
2. Rule of law liberal dimension
You need to decide which dimensions to include and how to weigh them, to have a certain measurement
Political regimes
States= entities that successfully claim a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a specified territory
- Minimal safety
- Stable
Regimes= rules governing the distribution of power and the relationships between the agents of power
- Patters and relationships of power
- Relationships between agents of power
- Medium stable
Governments= leadership that runs the state
1
,- Actors
- Least stable
Hybrid regimes
Hybrid= have a rule of law and rule by the people, but not fully
Electoral democracy= have rule by people, but not all of rule of law
What is democracy?
Definitions:
Minimal definitions= minimal baseline
- Rule of the people popular decision making elections
- They usually have more requirements about elections
Expanded procedural definitions= more than just elections
- Some guarantees that make elections meaningful
- Dahl: strive for polyarchy
o Non electoral requirements + electoral requirements
- Schmitter & Karl: add for real existing democracies
o Absence reserved power domains (elected officials must be able to rule)
o State sovereignty (state must be formally and de facto independent)
- O’Donell: adds rule of law, all citizens including the incumbent are subject to the rule of law
Substantive definitions= include desirable outcomes
- Substantive outcomes
- Problem no longer able to see the effects of democracy
o Becomes circular
Varieties of democracy= different versions of expanded procedural definitions
Advantages and dis-advantages
Ladder of abstraction= from one general term to less abstract
- Adding more elements
- Less abstract
Dichotomous= yes or no
Continuous= on a scale
Measurements
Concepts measurements
- Concept tree
Indicators make measurements possible
Concept tree= big concept split up in dimensions, those into sub-dimensions which give indicators
Data quality
2
,Lecture 3: Colonial, authoritarian and democratic legacies
Does democracy matter?
Normative why do you care? Prescriptive
Empirical evidence based Descriptive
Quite strong evidence that democracy leads to:
- Better human rights
- Less corruption & quality of government
- Human development/health
- Trade, technological change and FDI
Pretty strong evidence for positive impact on:
- Social & economic policy outcomes (education, environment & growth)
But no effects found on:
- Inequality
- Inflation
- Public spending
Studying regime change
Regime change= a movement of political regimes along a continuum from more authoritarian to more democratic
Democratization= moving grom authoritarian to democracy
Autocratization= moving from democracy to authoritarian
- Gradual movement
- Doesn’t mean that it is stable
Democratic consolidation= stabilizing democracy
Autocratic consolidation= stabilizing autocracy
- In transition
Democratic backsliding/recession= moving towards
autocracy, while you’re still in a democracy
Breakdown= a sudden moment when switching regime
Transition, stability and deepening
Democratization processes consist of three phases
(Munck, 2009)
1. Democratic transition= implies the shift of a political regime from autocracy into democracy
2. Democratic stabilization/consolidation= the stabilization of the new regime, once the transition happened
- Not dependent on how long it has been a democracy
- Idea of immunity to backsliding
3. Democratic deepening= refers to processes of gradual improvement in the quality of democracy once a
democracy is stable
- Very gradual processes
The transition is hard to pinpoint
Causes of change vs causes of stabilization
- Transition is easier than stability (the causes may differ a lot)
- Causes of transition death dictator, people revolution, end of war etc
- Causes of stabilization institutions, education, experiences etc
Causes of democratization
Long-term causes= historical
Intermediate causes= institutions
Proximate causes= political actors, civil society
and events
Transition, stability and deepening
First wave: 1789-1918
3
, - Western Europe, North-America, Latin-America
- Constitutional monarchies, proto-parliaments & ending universal suffrage
- Gradual development of state, division of power, liberalization and then suffrage
Second wave: 1945-1960
- Re-democratization Western European regimes (not Eastern-European regimes)
- Newly independent colonies in Asia, Africa etc
- End of war / independence leading to regime breakdown & transition to holding elections
Early third wave: 1974-1989
- Portugal, Spain, Greece and mostly Latin America pacted/discrete transitions
- Eastern Europe & most former Soviet Republics as well
- Gradual liberalization leading to regime breakdown & transition to holding elections
Later democratizers: 1989-present
- African and (some) Asian regimes imposed/protracted transitions
- Elections first, then liberalization democratization-by-elections
- Longer and much less clear-cut processes of change
Types of transition & authoritarian legacies
The way transition happens affects the stability
- Revolutions violent transition
- Elite-split often goes smooth
o But people with the perks in autocracy keep their money
Types of transitions:
- Violent vs Non-violent:
o Non-Violent you don’t need to build op your country
o Violent post-war reconsolidation (more difficult to stabilize)
- Pacted vs Rupture
o Pacted elite view with agreement of autocracy
Lack of transitional justice, can create problems later on
o Rupture revolutionary (there was disagreement before)
- Imposed vs Indigenous
o Indigenous Initiated by people inside the country (internal)
This works better, because people choose themselves
o Imposed initiated by the outside (external)
Without local support it is less likely to stabilize
- Non-violent, pacted & indigenous (home-grown) usually works best
Authoritarian regimes types, types of transition & legacies
You always have left-overs that influence the democracy
Types of authoritarian legacies (Loxton):
- Authoritarian successor parties= longing back for the old regime, helps stabilizing (they wont want to take up
force) & legacy to bring people that are pro-authority into democracy
o Positive
- Authoritarian constitutions= A new constitution brings more instability (change it later on) & they have
negative effect (give some people special/more power and hard to get away with)
o Negative
- Sub-national authoritarian enclaves= if they vote (stabilize), but if not and they present an alternative they
destabilize
o Positive & Negative
Colonial history
Three main arguments about how they affect democratization
1. Colonial legacy: When they become independent, they take institutions from colonists (political system)
4
