AXIOMS of Political Science (Cont’d) January 16 th, 2002

Power – Where Does it Come From non-democratic countries  power based on the use of force  can be more or less legitimate or illegitimate  remember – not everyone in the world supports the idea of democracy!! democratic countries  power=influence or control over the state (which has a monopoly on the use of force)

Power in Democratic Countries two mechanisms to allocate value  market (economic sphere)  state (political sphere)

Power in Democratic Countries Why are both politics and markets necessary in democracy?  voice & exit (Hirschman)  market  based on exit option requires some minimum individual rights does not require any direct participation in decision-making  systems that have minimum individual rights cannot completely prohibit market transactions  politics  based on voice option  without voice, there is no way to signal consent of the governed

Power in Democratic Countries politics (state) & market both required for democracy  both allocate power (reflect or create power relationships)  the issue is the relationship between the two spheres

Power in Democratic Countries relationship between economic and political power  power in the economic sphere equates with power in the political sphere  e.g. Marx, Lindblom  power in the economic sphere does not equate with power in the political sphere  e.g. majoritarian democrats, pro- market liberals

Power & Democracy comparing democratic systems (in operation) to models of democracy  models of democracy are about who ought to exercise power  political systems in practice embody the actual exercise of power remember...political actors usually adopt a model of democracy that justifies their exercise of power  attempt to gain legimitimacy (and thus, authority)

The State of Democracy In the Contemporary World

The State of Democracy Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2002  political freedom  freedom to form political parties  open competition in free and fair elections  civil liberties  personal freedoms (e.g. speech, press)  religious, ethnic, linguistic rights

The State of Democracy total countries=192 electoral democracies=121 (63%)  1987=40% free countries=89 (46%) many countries are electoral democracies without being free!!

The State of Democracy top rankings  34 countries (all Western industrialized countries) including...  Australia  Canada  France  Germany  UK  United States

The State of Democracy worst rankings  9 worst  Burma  Cuba  Iraq  North Korea  Libya  Saudi Arabia  Sudan  Syria  Turkmenistan

The State of Democracy the number of free democratic societies is growing  however, the number of electoral democracies has grown faster than the number of free democratic societies  electoral democracy does not equal free democracy