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Democracy, Part I

Defining Democracy: Your own ideas. What are the essential characteristics of democracy? . Sources:. Robert Dahl, Polyarchy (1971) and On Democracy (1998)Samuel Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the late Twentieth Century (1991)Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy (1999)Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation (1996)Freedom House

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Democracy, Part I

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    1. Democracy, Part I Definitions and Directions

    2. Defining Democracy: Your own ideas What are the essential characteristics of democracy?

    3. Sources: Robert Dahl, Polyarchy (1971) and On Democracy (1998) Samuel Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in the late Twentieth Century (1991) Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy (1999) Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation (1996) Freedom House – www.freedomhouse.org The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index

    4. General Point #1: Democracy is getting more popular 1900 – no democracies (by standard of universal suffrage for competitive multiparty elections). 1950 – 22 democracies 2002 – 121/192 countries classified as electoral democracies.

    5. Map of world’s political systems, 1900

    6. Map of world’s political systems, 2000

    9. Caveats: Not all democracies are equally free 89 Free countries 55 Partly Free countries 48 Not Free countries (Source: Freedom House, 2003)

    10. General Point #2: Mass democracy is modern Distinctions between earlier and later democracies: 1. direct democracy (vs elected representatives) 2. exclusion (vs inclusion) 3. civil and political rights?

    11. Ways of Defining Democracy what it SHOULD be (“normative”) (“government by, of, for the people”) institutional characteristics -- by its PROCEDURES (approach favored by CP)

    12. What is a democracy? One basic definition: “A system in which the most powerful decisionmakers are selected through fair and periodic voting procedures in which candidates freely compete for votes, and in which virtually all people have the right to vote.” (Samuel Huntington)

    13. But is this enough? 8 essential components of a full (liberal) democracy: the right to vote the right to be elected/eligibility for public office the right of political leaders to compete for support and votes free and fair elections freedom of association freedom of expression alternative sources of information institutions that make government policies actually depend on votes and other forms of (voter) preference (Robert Dahl)

    14. “Levels” of democracy (based on “degrees” of democracy): Full (liberal) democracy Electoral democracy, semi-democracy, pseudo-democracy, “Illiberal” democracy

    16. Democracy, Part II: Institutional Variations

    17. Variation #1: degree of territorial & political centralization Federal System vs “Unitary” System

    18. Federal system: Decentralized authority sovereignty constitutionally split between at least two territorial levels units at each level can act independently of the others in some areas. Citizens have political obligations to two (or more) authorities Examples: U.S., Canada, Germany

    19. Unitary System: Authority & sovereignty centralized in one place (the capital) Policies largely set by “the center” No (or weak) intermediary layer between local and central government Local govt subservient to central govt Examples: Turkey, France, Britain

    20. What are the pros and cons of federal and unitary systems?

    21. Variation #2: Powers and processes of leadership Presidential VS parliamentary systems

    22. a. Title & power of head of state Presidential system: head of govt – always called the president – is elected for a prescribed period and generally cannot be dismissed unless guilty of severe wrongdoing. Parliamentary system: head of the government usually (but not always) called the Prime Minister. His/her cabinet responsible to the legislature (Parliament); can be dismissed through a vote of no confidence.

    23. b. How head of state is chosen In Presidential System, presidents are popularly elected by populace In a Parliamentary system, head of state (president) selected by the legislature. Head of government (prime minister) usually is the leader of the ruling party.

    27. c. Status of the head of state In a presidential system, president appoints the cabinet and they are considered subservient to him. In a parliamentary system, the prime minister serves as one among equals

    28. d. selection of the cabinet… In Presidential system, cabinet appointed separately by president In a Parliamentary system, cabinet drawn in part from legislature

    29. e. Length of term in office In a presidential system, legislators and presidents serve fixed terms In a parliamentary system, legislators and presidents serve a maximum time in office but a ruling party can call early elections if it wants to

    30. Notes: it is common in parliamentary systems to have a president or monarch who is the CEREMONIAL head of state, and a PM who is in charge of the government Examples of Parliamentary systems: Britain, Turkey, South Africa, Germany Examples of Presidential systems: U.S., most of South America Many countries have “mixed” systems, i.e. France

    31. Turkey chief of state: President Abdullah Gul head of government: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN (since 14 March 2003) cabinet: Nominated by Prime Minister, confirmed by President elections: prime minister selected from majority party, confirmed by president . President elected by parliament.

    32. Example: Brazil chief of state: President Luiz Inacio LULA DA SILVA (since 1 January 2003) note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms

    33. United Kingdom chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II head of government: Prime Minister Gordon Brown cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually the prime minister

    34. parliamentary system: pros and cons? + Strengthens parties over individuals + Encourages policy-based voting rather than voting based on individual charisma or $$ + Fusing of legislative & exec. branches can promote efficiency - Gives the public less choice over leadership - Flexible election terms can = less stability - Fusing of executive & legislative branches can concentrate too much power in one place

    35. Presidential system: pros and cons? + Gives the people more choice over leadership + “strong” government- president more insulated and can act with daring + higher levels of government accountability + Greater stability + Clear separation of powers - Power of presidency can be abused - Can encourage deadlock between legislature & executive - Encourages charisma, $$, rather than substance & policies - Set terms= rigidity (bad leaders can’t be easily removed)

    36. Institutional variation #3: Electoral systems (how voting works: who gets elected, and how)

    37. Electoral systems: 2 main types 1- Plurality System (“Winner-take-all” system) Single member districts; whoever gets the most votes wins the seat used by about 54% of world’s countries 2- Proportional Representation (PR system) Multi-member districts; # of reps. determined by % of vote Used by about 35% of world’s countries, by most of western Europe

    38. Plurality Systems Single-member electoral districts (usually) Also called “winner-take-all” Simplest & most common form: “First Past the Post” : winning candidate is the one who gains more votes than any other candidate, but not necessarily a majority of votes. Alternative: Ranked Choice/Instant Runoff Voting Encourages 2-party systems Examples: U.S., U.K, Canada, Rwanda

    39. Proportional Representation(PR) Multi-member electoral districts Seats in legislature divided by % of votes. Most common type: “List system”: parties select candidates, who goes to legislature depends on what % that party gets “preferential voting” - voters rank preferences on party list encourages multi-party system Min. threshold (barrier): parties have to get a certain % of votes to enter legislature Examples: Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Norway, Turkey, Brazil

    46. Turkey: How Votes are Counted 550 seats in Parliament 85 electoral districts Districts have from 2-26 representatives in the Parliament PR List System (Closed List) 10 percent threshhold

    48. Who won which provinces in Turkey, 2002 and 2007 compared

    49. France 577 deputies in the National Assembly 577 legislative districts single-district, plurality system (2 rounds of voting) Candidates that win more than 50% in the first round win seat If no one does, 2nd round: the candidate that wins the most votes wins the seat

    50. Pros & Cons of Plurality Systems: + gives voters clear choice + maintains close geographic link between voters and elected officials + creates effective government -- clear majority party and unified opposition - Not very representative; many votes “wasted” - Excludes smaller & minority parties from representation

    51. Pros & Cons of PR systems: + highly representative: all or nearly all votes “count” + encourages diversity & range of perspectives + Greater voter turnout - Can lead to fragmentation & ineffective govt. - “List” PR, in particular, can weaken link between voters & elected officials (officials more loyal to party than voters)

    52. Note: Many countries used “mixed-PR” systems: some sort of mixture between plurality & PR systems!

    53. Examples: Mexico 500-person Chamber of Deputies Elections every three years Parallel voting: 300 deputies elected in single-seat constituencies by first-past-the-post plurality Other 200 elected through PR voting with open-party lists country is divided into 5 constituencies

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