Goal

1
AP Comp Day 10 How and WHAT will we compare?

• Goal to understand democracy is a concept with
  many meanings and complex factors that both
  advance and inhibit its effective operation.
• Questions from homework?
• Important terms related to Democracy and
  legitimacy
• Democracy according to Kesselman
• Discuss with group answer to homework question
  Add to your answer
• Identify the 5 democratic conditions necessary
  for a political system to be typed as democratic
• Current Events discussion
• Democracy according to Powell AR 13
• Identify and explain the broad principles of
  democracy
• Identify the 5 conditions for a system to earn a
  democratic classification
• Identify the preconditions for democratic
  consolidation
• Do you agree that these are the main principles
  and conditions? What should be added or removed
  to make our understanding of democracy more
  complete and accurate?
• How does the Briefing paper compare to Kesselman?
• Identify and explain the broad process of
  democratization
• Identify the types of democracy.
• Identify the preconditions for a system to earn a
  democratic classification
• Identify the factors for democratic consolidation

2
Emergency Lifted in BangkokThai Government Cites
Effect on TourismBy Jocelyn Gecker AP Monday,
September 15, 2008 A15BANGKOK, Sept. 15 -- The
Thai government on Sunday ended a state of
emergency imposed in the capital to control a
violent political crisis, saying it had served
only to scare away tourists crucial to the
country's economy. Acting Prime Minister Somchai
Wongsawat urged all sides in the deepening
political standoff to compromise and help restore
the country's image. The spirit of compromise
will be tested this week as the parliament seeks
-- for a second time -- to elect a prime minister
acceptable to all sides. Samak Sundaravej, who
took over as prime minister after elections in
December, was forced to resign Sept. 9 when the
Constitutional Court ruled that he had violated
conflict-of-interest laws by accepting money to
host TV cooking shows while in office. The ruling
was an unrelated twist to the political
crisis. Protesters accused Samak of being a
stooge of former prime minister Thaksin, who
recently fled to Britain to escape corruption
charges. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military
coup after street demonstrations by the same
group
3
Articulation

• Articulation interest groups types are based
  on
• their goals and organization
• institutional groups groups whose main purpose
  is something other than interest articulation
  like a bureaucracy in government, the Church, the
  bridge club, etc. but nonetheless operates at
  times to advance in the political system the
  interests of its members
• Associational groups a formal, well-organized,
  hierarchical (generally) organization whose
  primary purpose is articulation of its members
  interests
• Non-associational groups like associational in
  purpose, but not well-organized and without
  formality or membership
• Anomic groups - spontaneous, unorganized groups
  who form generally from emotional stimuli like
  frustration or relative deprivation. Behaviors
  and methods of interest articulation are often
  violent
• Their number, efficacy and connection to the
  state
• Corporatist entire sectors of interest are
  represented by a single organization (body)
  speaking with a single voice
• Pluralist each interest sector is represented
  by numerous groups each with its own voice

4
Aggregation

• Aggregation political leadership, elites and
  parties are dependent upon the structure of the
  state
• Authoritarian single-party exclusive and
  inclusive
• Authoritarian multi-party
• competitive 2 party Single-member district
  first-past-the-post electoral system
• Pluralist party systems parliamentary
  proportional electoral system

5
Rule of Law

• The concept that the power and discretion of
  government and its officials ought to be
  restrained by a supreme set of neutral rules that
  prevent arbitrary and unfair action by
  government. Also called constitutionalism. -
  Magstadt

• the principle that legal rules rather than
  arbitrary or personal decisions determine what
  happens Hauss

• governments can take no action that has not
  been authorized by law and that citizens can be
  punished only for actions violating existing
  laws- A P

6
Legitimacy

• A significant segment of the citizenry must
  believe that the state acts with some moral
  authority. People believe that the state has the
  right to issue rules binding for people within
  their borders - Kesselman

• People believe that rules should be followed
  voluntarily because they are in the best
  interests of all citizens. Palmer

• People have the feeling that the regimes rule
  is rightful and should be obeyed.- Roskin

Some key legitimizing factors Transparency,
free elections, compatibility of system with
culture, open and free press, economic success,
improved living standards, rule of law, access to
quality public services, civil rights,
responsiveness to inputs, civil society,
accountability, political efficacy, absence of
relative deprivation
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Civic Culture

• Culture characterized by by trust, legitimacy,
  and limited involvement, which some theorists
  believe is most conducive to democracy - Hauss

• A political culture characterized by 1)most
  citizens acceptance of the authority of the
  state but also 2) a general belief in civic
  duties participation is mixed with passivity,
  trust and a deference to authority Wynn

8
Civil Society

• The web of membership in social and political
  groups that some analysts believe is needed to
  sustain democracy - Hauss

• an extensive network of interest groups and
  public participation social and political
  interactions free of state control or regulation,
  such as community groups, voluntary assocs and
  even religious groups AP

• space occupied by voluntary assocs outside the
  state like professional assocs, trade unions,
  student and womens groupssimilar to society
  although civil society implies a degree of
  organization absent from the more inclusive term
  society - Kesselman

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Kesselmans Democracy required principles
1 political accountability state must be able
to be held accountable by the governed 2
political competition alternation of power must
be possible for different political parties and
the losers must accept the winners right to
govern 3 political freedom citizens must have
the rights to participate and be informed must
have rule of law and independent judiciary 4
political equality all citizens must be able to
participate in politics with their votes and
voices weighted equally
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Kesselmans Democracy conditions to earn label
of democracy

1. Free and fair competitive elections with rules
   and regularity
2. Freedom of assembly and party activity
3. Procedures w/o arbitrariness, due process,
   transparency in policy-making and accountability
4. Civil liberties and rights w/ political equality
5. Independent judiciary with power over other
   institutions of govt

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Kesselman - Qualification of the Democracy
definition

• Democracy can be inequitable
• No country is completely democratic
• Contentiousness of issues often result valid and
  legitimate positions that result in a winner and
  loser, where the loser believes that the decision
  may be illegitimate
• Economic inequalities stack the deck against the
  poor in the arena of politics
• Many different institutional types of
  democracies, not just presidential

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Kesselman - Preconditions for consolidation

• For a system to be typed as having transitioned
  from authoritarianism through the transitional
  democracy types to being a consolidated
  democracy, the system must have
• met the five conditions of democracy
• Free fair elections
• Freedom of political assembly
• Regime has accountability based on fixed,
  knowable, transparent procedures
• Civil and political rights
• Independent judiciary
• Been in existence for some kind of length of time
• Democratic practices that have become deeply
  ingrained and the five conditions have been met
  relatively consistently

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Democratization Briefing Paper

• Democratization is the process by which a
  nation-state moves from non-democracy through
  procedural to fully consolidated substantive
  democracy.
• This has happened in three waves
• 19th and early 20th C US, UK, France (sorta),
  Canada, et al
• After WWII as empires crumbled and fascism failed
• 70s through 90s as communism and the USSR
  failed and the authoritarians throughout saw
  their fragile economies and corrupt leadership
  styles become illegitimated

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Democratization Briefing Paper

• Substantive Democracy like Kesselmans enduring
  or consolidated democracy
• Procedural democracy has the basics like a
  newly transitional democracy, but not
  consolidated yet
• Illiberal democracy has the appearance of
  democracy, like a Potemkin Village, but the
  underlying factors do not exist to much extent
• Electoral authoritarianism non-democracies who
  pretend to be democratic

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Democratization Briefing Paper

• Preconditions of Democratization
• Level of economic development while not
  necessary, it is often an important catalyst in
  producing modernization an environment of
  education, widespread information media, improved
  infrastructure for information and
  transportation, leading to civil society and
  better living standards. All of this helps to
  lead to democratization.
• International and regional environment of
  democracy if the world, trading partners and
  neighbors want democracy, it puts pressure on
  system to democratize

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Democratization Briefing Paper

• Substantive democracy consolidation includes
• Democratic competition accepted by all major
  actors seeking political influence
• Citizen participation
• Rule of law
• Society has accepted the values of competitive
  parties, independent judiciaries, subordinated
  militaries, and the rule of law
• Continued modernization and improved standards of
  living

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S and K - Procedures Democracy in a nation-state

• Elected officials make policy within
  constitutional limits w/o veto from informal or
  unelected sources or from super-sovereign
  influences from abroad
• competitive, fair, free, non-coercive regular
  elections
• practically full universal suffrage
• Practically universal right to run for office
• Free and noncoercive right to expression
• Free, widely available multiple information
  sources
• Civil society

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S and Ks factors of feasibility for Democracy in
a nation-state are

• Agreement that electoral winners get to rule, but
  winners cannot freeze out opposition
• Citizens must follow rules, currently agreed to
  or not, so long as there is legitimacy based
  partially on belief that free elections will
  occur later contingent consent
• There does not have to be consensus, just rule of
  law consistent with the political culture or set
  of political norms
• Must be opportunity for alternation of power and
  policy