Evaluating Electoral Democracy Susan Banducci Professor of Comparative Political Behaviour Politics

Objectives Review Concept of Democracy, from cross- national perspective Review Criteria by which to Evaluate Democracy – Representation – Accountability – Turnout – legitimacy – Can you have elections without democracy? Democracy without elections? Possibilities for reform

Models of Democracy (1) Procedural view – a form of government that emphasizes the procedures that enable the people to govern or how decisions are made Who should participate in decision-making? How much should each participant’s vote count? How many votes are needed to reach a decision? Universal and equality Substantive – substance of government policies, in freedom of religion and the provision for human needs or what government does

Procedural Definitions Substantive, “Outcome”- focused Definitions Minimal electoral definitions More complex procedural definitions (“liberal democracy”) Maximalist definitions

Models of Democracy (2) Minimal Procedural – means of competitive struggle (Schumpeter) More complex procedural – Institutions or guarantees of freedoms, as well as elections, must exist to call regime democratic. – E.g. Liberal definitions of democracy Substantive – The criterion for substantive democracy states that government policies should guarantee civil liberties and civil rights.

More on Electoral Democracy Electoral democracy – Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, socialism and democracy – Procedural minimalist definition "The democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people's vote“ – Multiparty elections at regular intervals – Citizens select leaders

Evaluating Democracies (1) Electoral Democracy vs. Liberal Democracy (and ambiguous) – Regimes that have minimal competitive elections, but no other democratic institutions. – Institutions or guarantees of freedoms, as well as elections, must exist to call regime democratic. See Larry Diamond Representation, accountability, turnout, legitimacy

Evaluating Democracy (2) Representation – Descriptive representation – women underrepresented (20% in UK, 70% LAB) – Why? Institutions, political parties and culture?

Evaluating Democracy (3) Accountability – Are citizens able to hold elected official accountable through the electoral process? – Consider Lack of information, nature of campaigns – Issue voting? Low participation

Evaluating Democracy (4) Turnout – Equal access but bias in turnout – Who has the loudest voice (representation)

Evaluating Democracy (4a) Human Development Index – aggregate differences in turnout Also, bias at the individual level – i.e. in general those who are better off (have more resources) are more likely to vote

Evaluating Democracy (5) Legitimacy – Satisfaction with democracy – Trust/confidence in institutions

Conclusions Reform: Compulsory Voting Electoral Systems: i.e. Proportional Representation Direct Democracy

Additional resources: Larry Diamond, "Elections Without Democracy: Thinking About Hybrid Regimes," Journal of Democracy 13 (April 2002): ocracy/v013/13.2diamond.html