Lecture 4 Democratic and Nondemocratic Regimes PDF

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Week 4: Democratic and Nondemocratic Regimes Regime: broadest class of political system, it encompasses the bases of the system’s legitimacy. How and by whom government is accessed and influenced, civil society etc Democracy: “rule by the people” - We live in a world that agrees on the importance and desirability of democracy. - all citizens should have equal and effective voice in political community - Many democratic countries differ in what their democratic ideal is and in the extent to which they adhere to it - Direct democracy adopted by Athens meant citizens made the governing decisions, rarely used for governing - Plato (428-347 BCE) believed democracy would degenerate into tyranny - Aristotle saw democracy as class rule: the poor would govern according to their own interests and take away the property of the rich Development of Democracy - French Revolution challenged the divine right of kings and brought back the idea of rule by the people - Transition to representative democracy in which all persons had a right to vote was often controversial - Development of working class and socialist movement pressured governments to adopt universal adult suffrage - In Canada, women given right to vote in 1918 Madison, Federalist Papers Madison famously advocated representative over direct democracy - He believed direct democracy led to majority dictatorship because it contains nothing to check the inducement to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual Representative democracy involves citizens electing representatives to the legislature to make decisions on their behalf - Legislatures are not necessary representative of all characteristics of the population (e.g women can be unrepresented) - In most countries, representation is more by party than individual representatives Liberal democracy combines the ideology of liberalism, which gives high levels of individual freedom, with a democratic system of governing based on the election of representatives - Liberal democracy includes principles like: - Limits on government powers - Freedom of expression and organization - Freedom for media - Free competition for political power Democratic Government

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Democratic governments can be held accountable for their actions and inactions. They need their citizens’ approval to continue in office People need access to information to hold governments accountable. Transparency exists to the extent that government operations are visible to the people. Government are responsive to the interests of the public, notably by holding elections

Plebiscitary democracy involves giving citizens greater control of public policies and representatives through the use of different devices: - Referendums (vote on a particular issue) - Citizens’ initiatives (petition used to suggest, appeal or make government respond to an issue) - Recall elections Deliberative democracy decisions are made based on discussions by citizens rather than by elected representatives alone Two views: Substantive View: classify political regimes in terms of the outcome that they produce Procedural (Minimalist) View: classify political regimes in terms of their institutions or procedures - Inclusion - Contestation Three commonly used measures of democracy: Democracy-Dictatorship (DD), Polity IV, and Freedom House Non-Democratic Government - For most human history, democracy did not exist or was viewed as undesirable - Currently 75 states can be considered to be non-democratic governments - Non-democratic systems makes people have no practical say in who will govern them - there are no free and fair elections Non-democratic regimes differ from democratic ones in five (additional) significant ways: 1. They cannot reliably be controlled by their citizens and lack accountability 2. They seek to restrict citizens’ participation in politics 3. They limit pluralism and only allow organizations that are aligned with the regime 4. Justice is politicized and partial - no rule of law 5. Access of information is limited and the media are often censored Authoritarian and Hybrid Regimes - Non-democratic regimes can be either authoritarian or a hybrid - Authoritarian regimes are non-non-democratic governing systems that feature absolute rule over the population. People are prevented from choosing their government and influencing its decisions

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Hybrid Regimes governing systems that are a mixture of democratic and nondemocratic rule. Hybrid governments typically gain and keep power through electoral fraud, corruption, and legal manoeuvres

Types of Authoritarian regimes - Absolute monarchies (Autocracies: power embedded in an individual) - Personal dictatorships (Autocracies) - Military dictatorships (institutional dictatorships) - Party dictatorships (institutional dictatorships) - Theocratic dictatorships (institutional dictatorships) Absolute Monarchies - Absolute monarch has unlimited power, constitutional monarchs have very limited powers - An absolute monarch relies on kin and family network to come to power and stay in power - Royal family typically determines succession Ex. Swaziland King Mswati III, King must marry wives from each particular clan Military dictatorships are often ruled by committee or junta - Size of junta varies, according to whether the ruler needs to build support to consolidate power - “Guardians of the national interests”? - Biggest threat to stability is more military coups (coup d’etat) Ex. Thailand- land of coups - Had 19 attempted coups in total in the past century - Although the military regularly takes over, it always handed back power to a civilian government Party dictatorship is where one party dominates office and control over policy - Other parties may exist and compete as minor players in elections Ex. Communist party of China Personal dictatorship is where the leader controls all policy decisions and selections of regime personnel - Parties and the military are purposely weakened to prevent challenges to the regime - Weak press, strong secret police, arbitrary use of force - Cult of personality Theocratic Dictatorships is run by religious elites Ex. Iran - Although voters elect a president, political power rests ultimately with the Supreme (religious) Leader: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Authoritarian rule and Regime Stability - Authoritarian leaders tend to worry more about the enemy within than about opponents from the outside - They often use democratic institutions (courts, opposition parties, legislature, elections) to control potential opponents and provide legitimacy - A regime’s survival differs by type: this is partly due to intra-regime politics: - Military dictatorships last a shorter time and are more likely to produce competitive electives - Party dictatorships will be quite stable (attempt to stay united, make everyone in party happy) - Personal dictatorships will also be stable (strong security and concentration of power) - Absolute monarchies are the most stable Hybrid Regimes - Are more open and less repressive than authoritarians but cannot be classed as democratic - Allow some level of pluralism and might permit free media outlets and tolerate political opposition - Typically, elections are held regularly but government is not voted out of office...