Supply & Demand for Institutions.
Limited effectiveness transferring
Western institutions
Ch. 4: Democracies vs.
Authoritarian Regimes
Readings
Dahl "Democracy & its critics"
More inclusive over time
Scale of democracy has
expanded
3 Milestones:
Incorporation (who can vote)
Representation (right
to form parties)
Organized Opposition
(right to vote against)
Brooker
"Non-Democratic
Regimes"
Huntington "Democracy's Third Wave"
Wave 1: 1820-1926 Euro/US
Wave 2: 1945-62 Colonies
Wave 3: 1970s-1990s Church,
EU, US change policies
What is democracy?
Dahl: has been variously conceived of as a distinctive
set of political institutions & practices, a particular body
of rights, a social and economic order, a system that
ensures certain esirable results, or a unique process of
making collective and binding decisions
Weber: "The primary form of
government in modern times
Different Types of Democracy
Schumpter: Procedural
vs. Sustantive
Lijphart Majoritarian vs. Consensus;
Coalescent vs. Adversarial
Dahl Thin vs. Thick; Populism vs.
Liberalism; Liberal vs. Illiberal
Dahl's Polyarchy (spectrum of
competition & inclusivity)
Manin's "Audience Democracy"
Definitions
Procedural Democarcy: by the people
Substantive Democracy: for the people
Thin democracy: participatory;
requires only voting rights
Thick democracy: procedural
democracy that requires constitutional
rights & civil liberties as well
Dahl's Polyarchy
Polyarchy:
Competitive &
Inclusive
Inclusive Hegemony:
Inclusive, not
competitive
Competitive
Oligarchy: competitive
but non-inclusive
Autocracy:
non-competitive,
non-inclusive
Liberal vs. Illiberal democracy
Coalescent Democracy: elites
are a coherent group, can lead
democracy in 2 directions
Depoliticized - homogenous society
Centripetal - homogenous
(anglo-american)
Centrifugal - pluralistic
(european system)
Majoritarian
concentrated powerful executive
two parties
winner-take all
flexible, easily amended constitution
Consensus
executive power sharing
proportional representation (PR)
federal & decentralized
Bicameral
rigid consitution
Audience democracy: not
everyone has to take part
Authoritarianism
Monarchies
Dictatorships
Personal Rule
(populist)
Presidential
Monarchies
Org Rule
Party
Military
Claims to Legitimacy
Religious
Ideological
Democratic
"Transitions from
Authoritarian Rule" vs.
Carothers "End of the
Transition Paradigm"
Ch. 5: Separation of Powers &
Presidential vs. Parliamentary
Systems
Readings
Powell, Dalton, & STrom
Gov't & Policymaking
2 systems: Democracy vs.
Authoritarians
3 Dimensions of Decision Rules
Separation of powers
Geographic Distribution
of Power
Limitation on Gov't Power
Two Systems: Presidential
& Parliamentary
Presidential
Fixed terms
Strong Democratic Legitimacy
"winner take all"
Parliamentary
Power-sharing
"consociational democracy
Shugart & Cary
Dichotomy not so clear. Many
countries have both.
Diamond & Platter "Electoral
Systems & Democracy
Horowitz: Primer for
Decision-makers. Goals:
Proportional seats to votes
Accountability to constituents
Durable Govts
Victory of the winner
Interethnic Concilation
Minority office-holding
Soudriette & Ellis "A global snapshot"
Plurality vs majority systems
First past the post
Two-round system
Proportional Representation
Reilly "Dealing w/ Divided Societies"
Most powerful systems make
politicians reciprocally dependent
on votes from other groups
The Case for Power Sharing (Lijphat)
Power sharing & group autonomy
(power sharing or consociational
democracy) solves problem of divided
societies
Weaver: Federalism is an alternative to conflict-solving electoral rules
Ch. 6: Elections, Referendums, Political Parties, & Party Systems
Readings
Powell, Daulton & Strom
Interest Aggregation
Democracies: parties gain support for programs
Autocracies: ruling party may try to mobilize
support, political process controlled
narrows policy to workable
iniatiatives
Patron-client network
Center (patron) to populace (client)
Electoral Regulations
Extent of Franchise
Voluntary/Compulsory Voting
Access-requirements to ballots
Term limits
Single Member
Constituencies
(Majoritarian)
Multi Member
Constituencies (PR)
List systems (parties give lists)
Mixed Systems (candidate + party list)
Single Transferable vote
Perfect proportionality very rare
Majoritarian systems award seas:
single member plurality
Alternative Vote
two-round
Electoral Systems differ by:
Direct magnitude (district vs nationwide candidates
Intra-party choice
Threshholds for recognition
Downs "Econ theory of
pol. action in Democracy
Parties formulate policy strictly
as means of gaining votes
Parties take shortcuts b/c
of imperfect knowledge
Pursuasion
Representation
Not all votes are
equally important
lack of info creates
demand for ideology
If voters scattered, gov't has
harder time implementing objectives
apathy is rational voter behavior
Lijphart, Lardeyret, Quade & Lijphart "
Electoral Systems & Democracy"
Plurality Elections + Presidential
Proportional Rep. + Parliamentary
Plurality Elections + Parliamentary
Proportional Rep. + Presidential
Lardeyret "The Problem w/ PR"
Quade - Favors plurality, 2 party system
Ljiphart: Parliament + PR systems are right
Diamond & Gunther "political
parties & democracy"
7 functions of parties
Candidate Nomination
Electoral Mobilization
Issue Structuring
Societal Representation
Interest Aggregation
Forming/Sustaining Gov'ts
Social Integration
Types of Parties
Elite parties
Mass-based Parties
Ethnicity-based Parties
Electoralist Parties
Movement Parties
Schmitter "Parties are not what they once were"
Groups that link electorate w/ policy:
Parties
Interest Associations
Social Movements
parties watered down by anti-party candidates
Parties now weaker at forming gov'ts
Globalization limits party platform options
More & more "professional politicians" isolated from voters