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Industrialized Democracies

Industrialized Democracies. An overview. Political system. Inputs types: support & demands channels: interest groups and parties Decision making institutions & leaders of the state Outputs public policy. Political system inputs. interest articulation voting, participation in elections

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Industrialized Democracies

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  1. Industrialized Democracies An overview

  2. Political system • Inputs • types: support & demands • channels: interest groups and parties • Decision making • institutions & leaders of the state • Outputs • public policy

  3. Political system inputs • interest articulation • voting, participation in elections • informal group, social movement • personal interest contact • protest activity • interest groups • channels of political access

  4. Political system inputs • interest aggregation • political demands of individuals and groups are combined into policy programs • personal interest aggregation • patron-client network • central person or group • provides benefits to supporters • in exchange for their loyalty

  5. Institutional interest aggregation • associational groups • e.g. aggregation of labor and business interests • institutional groups • e.g. bureaucracy and military • political parties are the primary structures of interest aggregation • competitive vs. authoritarian party systems

  6. Competitive party system • political parties can freely form • primarily try to build electoral support • citizen support is prerequisite for controlling government • the closeness of electoral victory or even the number of political parties are not essential • e.g. the Indian or African National Congress

  7. Competitive party system • 3 stages of interest aggregation in a competitive party system • within individual parties • candidates and policy proposals • through electoral competition • through bargaining and coalition building in the legislature or executive

  8. Electoral rules • single-member district plurality rule • “first past the post” • e.g. Britain, U.S., and many other countries once influenced by Britain • the “Median Voter Theorem” • proportional representation • e.g. many countries in continental Europe

  9. Duverger’s Law • Plurality single-member district election rules tend to create two-party systems in the legislature • Proportional representation electoral systems generate multiple party systems in the legislature

  10. Three Types of Polities • Industrialized democracies • North America, European Union, Japan, and Oceania • Current and former communist regimes • East Europe, East Asia, and Cuba • The Third World • Latin America, Asia, and Africa

  11. Three Types of Polities

  12. Democracy: conceptual issues • Greek words: rule by the people • Who are “the people”? • Gender, race, and age • How to rule? • Direct versus representative democracy • Almost every government claims to be a democracy

  13. Criteria of democracy • Institutional arrangements? • Individual freedom? • Economic equality? • ... • Necessary condition but • Not sufficient condition

  14. Criteria of democracy • Democracies guarantee basic individual freedoms and rights • Democracies rely on the rule of law • Democratic governments are chosen through regular, free, and fair elections • different electoral systems • single-member district & first-past-the-post system • proportional representation system

  15. Criteria of democracy • Two uncertain and controversial criteria: • civil society and civic culture • legitimacy (the right to rule) • distinction between administration and democracy • capitalism and affluence • Historical development of democracy

  16. Origins of the Democratic State • In Europe (and North America) the way democracy developed was largely a result of the way countries handled four great transformations over the last 500 years: • The creation of the nation and state itself • The role of religion in society and government • The development of pressures for democracy • The industrial revolution

  17. Waves of Democratization • ``A group of transitions from nondemocratic to democratic regimes that occur within a specified period of time and that significantly outnumber transitions in the opposite direction during that period”

  18. The First Two Waves • A long and slow wave from 1828 to 1926 • A reverse wave of democratic breakdown from 1922 to 1942 • A wave of democratization after World War II from 1943 to 1964 • A reverse wave of democratic breakdown from 1961 to 1975

  19. The Third Wave • Started in Portugal and Spain in mid-1970s • Spread to South America from late 1970s to early 1980s • Reached Asia in late 1980s • Surge of transitions in East Europe at end of 1980s • South Africa 1990

  20. The Third Wave

  21. Political parties in democracies • Traditional left-right political spectrum • left end: communist parties • left: social democratic parties • right: Christian democratic parties • right: conservative parties

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