Political and Economic Change AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

Types of Change  Reform:  This type of change does not advocate for the overthrow of basic institutions, but strives to change some of the methods that political and economic leaders use to reach their goals  Revolution:  This type of change implies change at a more basic level, and involves either a major revision or an overthrow of existing institutions  Coup d'états:  This change occurs when the leadership of the country occurs against the will of the leader.  These generally occur in weak states

Attitudes Toward Change  Radicalism  This is a belief that rapid, dramatic changes need to be made in the existing society, often including the political system  Liberalism  This is a belief that reform should take place with gradual change  Conservatism  Conservatives see change as disruptive and they emphasize the fact that it sometimes brings unforeseen outcomes  Reactionary Beliefs  Reactionaries oppose revolution and reform and wish for their system to go back to a time that they feel was a “golden age”

Democratization  Democratization is the concept that non-democratic nations are becoming democratic  This means that competitive elections are regular, free, and fair  Countries that have the following characteristics are considered to be liberal democracies:  Free and fair elections  Civil liberties  Freedom of religion, speech, and assembly  Rule of law  Neutrality of the judiciary  Open civil society  Citizens have private lives and the media operates independently of the government  Civilian control of the military  Substantive democracies have access to multiple sources of information to make decisions

Why democratization?  Loss of legitimacy  Both right and left wing authoritarian regimes have lost legitimacy and have been taken by revolution  Expansion of an urban middle class  A new emphasis on “human rights” by the U.S. and E.U.  The “snowball” effect”

Consolidation  When a political system moves from a procedural democracy to a substantive democracy it is said to have experienced political liberalization  This generally happens because of the following:  A “Revolution of rising expectations”  This means that people begin to demand and are experiencing a better standard of living  Democratic consolidation  This is when a stable political system is supported by al parts of society

Command and Market Economies  In order to achieve the equality sought by Karl Marx, communist countries relied on a command economy  The economies were managed by a party-dominated state planning committee, which produced detailed blueprints for economic production and distribution  This economic system has largely failed and these nations have experienced shifts toward market economies  By going through this process, countries are experiencing economic liberalization

Mixed or Free  One debate that exists with the move to a market style economy is should a country adopt a mixed economy or a pure market economy  A mixed economy allows for some government control and a free market economy is purely based upon market changes  Nations that are shifting towards market economies are experiencing marketization and privatization  Marketization describes the state’s re-creation of a market in which property, labor, goods, and services can all function in a competitive form  Privatization is the transfer of state-owned property to private ownership

Social Movements/Civil Society  A social movement refers to organized collective activities that aim to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group or society  Civil society refers to voluntary organizations outside of the state that help people define and advance their own interests  These organizations may represent class, religious, or ethnic interests or they may cut across them  Civil society can check the power of the state and help prevent the tyranny of the majority