1. POLS 373 Foundations of Comparative Politics What Makes a Democracy? November 21, 2006

2. 2 What Makes a Democracy? What is democracy?

3. 3 What Makes a Democracy? In the academic literature, democracy is generally defined either formally (i.e., narrowly) or substantively (i.e., broadly), or sometimes as a combination of the two

4. 4 What Makes a Democracy? The formal definition of democracy is straightforward. Here is one definition:  “I would say democracy exists where you have a multiparty system with political parties competing with one another, free and non-corrupt voting procedures to elect political leaders, and an effective legal framework of civil liberties or human rights that underlie the mechanisms of voting processes.”

5. 5 What Makes a Democracy? If the foregoing definition down, we have three readily discernable components of democracy:  A competitive multiparty system  Free and non-corrupt elections  An effective legal framework of civil liberties or human rights To this list, we might add a fourth component:  Universal and equal suffrage (suffrage is simply the right or privilege of voting)

6. 6 What Makes a Democracy? Many scholars, though, argue that the formal requirements of democracy aren’t enough …Many scholars, though, argue that the formal requirements of democracy aren’t enough …

7. 7 What Makes a Democracy? Is an imperfect democracy still a democracy or is it something else?  To properly answer this question, it is critical to contrast “democracy” with potential alternatives: authoritarianism, totalitarianism, monarchy, and so on  You must be able to say that an imperfect democracy is not meaningfully different from any alternatives--consider the issue in more concrete terms …

8. 8 What Makes a Democracy? Is it legitimate to say that there is no meaningful difference between an imperfect democracy, such as exists in the United States and many other countries, and, say, Nazi Germany or Cambodia under Pol Pot or Uganda under Idi Amin?Is it legitimate to say that there is no meaningful difference between an imperfect democracy, such as exists in the United States and many other countries, and, say, Nazi Germany or Cambodia under Pol Pot or Uganda under Idi Amin?

9. 9 What Makes a Democracy? With the foregoing discussion in mind, we can now focus on the next big set of questions, which are:  How and why do democracies emerge?  Why do some survive while others do not?  Why do some thrive and become stronger over time, while others just sort of limp along?

10. 10 What Makes a Democracy? Structural Approaches to the Study of Democracy

11. 11 What Makes a Democracy? Let’s begin with a simple, but telling observation: the people (or the social class) that have predominant control over economic resources in society are generally not friends of democracy Why?

12. 12 What Makes a Democracy? For the dominant groups in society, genuine democracy represents a concrete threat to their own interests, since, by its very nature, democracy gives power to the “oppressed” subordinate classes who constitute the large majority of any society’s population

13. 13 What Makes a Democracy? Think of it this way: If the majority of people in a society are poor and exploited would they not be immediately tempted, in a democratic system, to use their new-found and overwhelming voting power to redistribute economic resources and, ultimately, to undermine permanently—if not destroy—the position and privileges of the wealthy (or political and economic elite)? More to the point, would not the elite be well aware of this potential threat and, therefore, do whatever they could to prevent democracy from taking hold?

14. 14 What Makes a Democracy? Given the almost undeniable tension between democracy and social inequality, Ruschemeyer et al. make a basic assertion, one which undergirds their entire argument: Democracy is above all a matter of power

15. 15 What Makes a Democracy? As a “struggle for power, democracy is highly conditioned  This means that transitions to democracy are constrained and enabled by broad structural changes that reorder the balance of power among different classes and class coalitions in society

16. 16 What Makes a Democracy? Central Contention: Capitalist development is related to democracy because it shifts the balance of class power, because it weakens the power of the landlord class and strengthens subordinate classes

17. 17 What Makes a Democracy? Key Point: For democracy to emerge, subordinate classes must have sufficient power to challenge the dominant classes.

18. 18 What Makes a Democracy? How is this a structural argument?How is this a structural argument?  Because capitalist development inexorably creates the foundation for subordinate classes to exercise power

19. 19 What Makes a Democracy? How and why does capitalist development shift power to subordinate classes?  Short Answer: Capitalist development generally entails the an increasing concentration of workers, all of whom toil under the same general (and generally exploitative and powerless) conditions

20. 20 What Makes a Democracy? Consider a typical urban factory and the emergence of “factory towns”Consider a typical urban factory and the emergence of “factory towns”

21. 21 What Makes a Democracy? Class organization is key, for the power of workers is maximized only when they can act in united manner As long as they are divided, they are weak and will remain weak. But a united working class is a powerful working class.

22. 22 What Makes a Democracy? While the role of the working class and the internal dynamics of capitalism occupy center stage in the authors’ argument, they also acknowledged a couple of other important factors:  The first is the structure of state and state-society relations, and the relative power balance between the state and social actors  The second factor, or power cluster, involves international power relations

23. 23 What Makes a Democracy? The structure of state and state-society relations, and the relative power balance between the state and social actors

24. 24 What Makes a Democracy? International power relations  During the cold war, international power relations were a key force in blocking democratization, since dominant states like the United States often directly supported and helped strengthen dictatorships, as long as they were anti-Communist (while the Soviet Union supported anti-American regimes)

25. 25 What Makes a Democracy? International power relations Indeed, in a few cases, the United States directly intervened to help bring down democratically elected governments in the developing world for fear that those governments would not support US interests Chile is a good example of this

26. 26 What Makes a Democracy? Important Point: “Power clusters” are inter-related; they act together to produce or undermine democracy

27. 27 What Makes a Democracy? RATIONAL CHOICE APPROACES

28. 28 Democracy: Rational Choice A key difference between structural and rational choice approaches might be encapsulated in the following statement: Waiting for democracy versus making democracy

29. 29 Democracy: Rational Choice Two basic approaches in rational choice:  Elite-centered (top-down)  “Cooperative” approaches  Bottom-up (or mass-based movements)  “Non-cooperative” approaches

30. 30 Democracy: Rational Choice Elite-centered Approaches Based on the premise that political/economic power in non-democratic societies resides primarily in the hands of the elite In this view, democracy is always a product of essentially voluntary and (of course) self- interested decisions made by elite actors

31. 31 Democracy: Rational Choice Elite-centered Approaches Elite-based rational choice explanations posit that any changes must be a product of disputes among the elite themselves  Usually result of a cleavage or split between “hard-liners” and “soft-liners”

32. 32 Democracy: Rational Choice Elite-centered Approaches Important Question:Where do demands for change arise?  Usually “exogenous” source, such as economic or political crisis that threatens the legitimacy of the ruling elite  “Outsiders” in political system may also play a role (putting pressure on elite for political change)

33. 33 Democracy: Rational Choice Elite-centered Approaches A democratic transition is most likely when soft- liners in the regime have relatively equal power to hard-liners and…  Exogenous shock cannot be easily overcome, and/or  When opposition is moderate, as opposed to radical

34. 34 Democracy: Rational Choice Elite-centered Approaches Nature of top-down democratization means that …  Transitions to democracy are generally the product of negotiated “pacts” or agreements among the elite  Transitions represent a “second best” outcome  Transitions do not require a commitment to democracy on the part of any elite group  “Democracy without democrats”

35. 35 Democracy: Rational Choice Bottom-up explanations Based on the premise that democracy is not a product of elite negotiations, but of strong pressure from the “masses” or from “outsiders” Democracy therefore reflects a relative (and significant) loss of power among the elite in general, rather than just a split between elites

36. 36 Democracy: Rational Choice Authoritarian Regime Types and Democratic Transition

37. 37 Democracy: Rational Choice Authoritarian Regime Types and Democratic Transition