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Plan for Today: Structural Preconditions for Democracy

Plan for Today: Structural Preconditions for Democracy. Become familiar with evidence on relationship between democracy and: Education. Religion. Political Culture. Facilitating Events. Assess persuasiveness of causal links. Types of Structural Preconditions. Education.

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Plan for Today: Structural Preconditions for Democracy

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  1. Plan for Today:Structural Preconditions for Democracy • Become familiar with evidence on relationship between democracy and: • Education. • Religion. • Political Culture. • Facilitating Events. • Assess persuasiveness of causal links.

  2. Types of Structural Preconditions Education

  3. Relationship among education, economic growth, & democracy Economic growth Education Democracy

  4. Rowen’s prediction based on education growth • Predicted 74-75 “free” countries (Freedom House measures) by 2020. • Actually 90 “free” countries by those measures in 2007.

  5. Indirectly Economic growth Education Directly Democracy

  6. Types of Structural Preconditions Religion

  7. Religion: Christianity generally? • 1988: 39/46 democratic countries dominant Christian

  8. Religion: Protestantism specifically? • Pre-1900: ¾ of democratic countries. • Catholicism considered hindrance until 3rd wave.

  9. Religion: Changes in Catholic Church • Pre-1960s: Catholic Church associated with powerful elites in society. • Mid-1960s: Church began to oppose authoritarian regimes (“liberation theology”) • Influence on Brazil, Chile, Philippines, Poland transitions.

  10. Religion: Islamic exception? • Persistent set of undemocratic countries. • Possible difficulties reconciling restrictions on participation with democratic principles.

  11. Religion: Islamic exception? • Yet 2/3 of Muslims live in democratic regimes. • Manji: Problem is with Islamist ideology. • Ibrahim: problem not with Islam but history and rulers on Arab peninsula.

  12. Religion • Considered mostly unimportant now.

  13. Types of Structural Preconditions Political Culture

  14. Political Culture “specifically political orientations – attitudes towards the political system and its various parts, and attitudes toward the role of the self in the system.” (Almond & Verba)

  15. Almond & Verba, The Civic Culture (1963) • “Civic political culture” necessary for stable democracy. • Citizens: • Feel competent • Have urge to participate • Are tolerant of diversity • Are positive towards their political institutions; value the system over any particular policy outcome.

  16. Relationship between political culture and democracy Civic Culture Democracy

  17. Relationship between political culture and democracy Civic Culture Democracy

  18. Authors on pro-democratic political culture • Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy in America • Robert Putnam: Making Democracy Work • “civic community” in northern Italy

  19. Relationship between political culture and democracy Civic Culture Democracy

  20. Facilitating Historical Events • Economic crisis • Losing a major military conflict

  21. Legitimacy in democracies vs. non-democracies • Performance as source of legitimacy for recent authoritarian regimes. • Legitimacy to particular government rather than procedures of regime.

  22. Legitimacy in democracies vs. non-democracies • Democratic regimes: legitimacy of regime rules and procedures as well as current government.

  23. Facilitating Historical Events • Economic Crisis • E.g. oil crises 1973-4 and 1979 • Oil-importing countries suffered. • Argentina, Greece.

  24. Facilitating Historical Events • Loss of Major Military Conflict • Argentina (Falklands-Malvinas) • Greece (Cyprus) • Portugal (colonial wars) • USSR (Afghanistan)

  25. Conclusion

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