POLS 373 Foundations of Comparative Politics What Makes a Democracy? February 27-March 1, 2007 Professor Timothy Lim California State University, Los Angeles What Makes a Democracy? February 27-March 1, 2007 Professor Timothy Lim California State University, Los Angeles

2 An Alternative Perspective Rationalists do not agree that “inert, invisible structures make democracies.” To put it very simply, believe that … people make democracy people make democracy People may be political elites or “the people,” as in mass movements

3 Different Processes, Different Actors : Rationality Some Basic Differences and Assumptions  Rationalists don’t consider capitalism to be the key process in democratization  Rationalists don’t necessarily discount the role of subordinate classes, but they tend to put greater emphasis on the interests and actions of the elite (more on this shortly)  Rationalists don’t like to focus on underlying (economic) structures: they believe that democracy is possible in virtually any economic context What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations

4 Different Processes, Different Actors : Rationality Some Basic Differences and Assumptions among Rationalists  Rationalists don’t agree on which people matter most Some rationalists argue that only the elite matter, that they are the key agents in democracy Others argue that “the people” (and not just the working class) are the key agents of political change What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations

5 Different Processes, Different Actors : Rationality Some Basic Differences and Assumptions among Rationalists  Rationalists don’t agree on the basic process of democratization Some rationalists argue that democratization is a product of negotiations among the elite, also known as ____________: in this view democracy is a cooperative and very deliberate project Other rationalists argue that democratization is a non- cooperative project, that is, it is a product of coercion, whereby authoritarian leaders are, in essence, forced to leave office under threat of violence What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations pacting

6 Different Processes, Different Actors : Rationality  Implications of Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Explanations Cooperative Explanations: Epitomized by Samuel Huntington’s observation on an ironic feature of contemporary democratization … Non-Cooperatiove Explanations: Suggests that democracy is product of people who want it and are willing to risk their lives to “get it”: from a rational choice perspective, the push for democracy changes the strategic environment for political leaders; when mass-movements are strong enough, leaders can see the writing on the wall, they know they have no choice but to leave What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations Democracy without democrats What does this statement mean? From a rationalist perspective, how does this statement make sense?

7 Different Processes, Different Actors : Rationality  Empirical Issues  Both cooperative (elite-centered) and non-cooperative approaches (mass-based) have empirical support … Latin American cases Supports Elite-CenteredMass-Based approach? Post-Communist cases (Eastern Europe) Supports Elite-CenteredMass-Based approach? What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations

8 Different Processes, Different Actors : Rationality  So where does this leave us? Can the rational choice approach provide a theoretically coherent and empirically comprehensive explanation of democratic transition? What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations The answer is a definite … maybe

9 Differing Authoritarianisms: An Alternative Rational Choice Perspective  A little comparative checking will tell us that not all authoritarian regimes are alike … Some are dominated by military leaders, who may have taken power through a coup d'état Some are dominated by “personalist” or charismatic leaders: single individuals who dominate the political process Some are dominated by a highly cohesive, tightly disciplined party structure--so-called single party regimes What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations

10 Differing Authoritarianisms: An Alternative Rational Choice Perspective  For a long time, many scholars took these differences for granted; they did not assign any particular causal significance to the different varieties of authoritarianism  One scholar, however, asked the question … What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations Can different types of authoritarianism lead to different outcomes? In other words, is “authoritarian type” an independent variable?

11 The Rationality of Authoritarianism Begins with the premise that different types of authoritarian leaders have different preferences or interests … Military leaders are less concerned with political power and more concerned with the survival and efficacy of the __________________ itself and with the preservation of ________________________. Personalist leaders have an overriding interest in staying in power: the “perks” of political power are many, while the costs of losing power are extremely high and almost certain (e.g., imprisonment, death, or, at best, exile) Single-party leaders also have an overriding interest in holding on to political power, but, unlike personalist regimes, their “power base” is more stable and enduring than in personalist regimes What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations military national security

12 The Rationality of Authoritarianism Basic Argument: Different types of regimes arise for different reasons, but, once created, they tend to exhibit similar characteristics regardless of political, social or cultural context ______________ regimes are the most likely to breakdown because the leaders are not interested in political power per se Moreover, if any internal splits threaten the cohesion and power of the military, their preference is to “save the military” rather than to hold on to political power Key Implication: Military authoritarian regimes not only tend to have the shortest life spans, but the transition to democracy is generally negotiated and “cooperative” What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations Military

13 The Rationality of Authoritarianism Basic Argument: Different types of regimes arise for different reasons, but, once created, they tend to exhibit similar characteristics regardless of political, social or cultural context __________________ and ________________ regimes are more resistant to breakdown because the political leaders have more to lose: leaders will fight tooth-and-nail to hold on to power This means that transitions are almost always _____________________ In addition, the impetus for a transition to democracy, especially in single-party regimes, will generally come from the outside, that is, __________________ “shocks” are usually needed to spark a change What Makes a Democracy? Competing Explanations Personalis t Single party non-cooperative exogenous