State, Nation & Nation-State Definitions

Quick Recap: Definitions

• A state is a sovereign political entity with a monopoly on legitimate violence within a defined territory
• A nation is a group of people sharing political solidarity based on commonalities like language, history, values, ethnicity, culture, and attachment to a political system
• A nation-state is a polity where the state and nation are effectively congruent, with the state ruling on behalf of the nation
• Most of humanity lives in nation-states because they significantly resulted from modernity, such as the development of capitalism, urbanization, and technological progress during the 16th-20th centuries
• Nation-states are resilient because of their effective political organization and political mobilization

Why Study Democratization?

• Studying democratization is a core question in comparative politics because it addresses why some countries are democratic and others are not
• Cross-country surveys indicate that most people want democracy, so understanding how this desire comes about is crucial
• Regime type, whether authoritarian or democratic, is central to domestic politics; democracy correlates with higher economic growth, health, and education
• Shifts toward or away from democracy are historically significant, such as the fall of Eastern European communist dictatorships in 1989 and the Arab Uprisings around 2011

Defining Democratization

• Democratization is the process by which countries transition "from non-democracy towards accountable and representative government"
• Democratization is not always straightforward
• It requires understanding what democracy truly means and what signifies a successful transition and consideration of potential reversals

Understanding Democracy

• Democracy is defined as "Government of the people, by the people, for the people"
• It is a regime where incumbents can lose elections
• Democracy involves decisions based on collectively binding rules over which people exercise control(Beetham 1992, p. 40)
• Rule by the people has components: regular free and fair elections, universal participation, basic civil liberties, and elected officials holding real power

Types of Democratization Definitions

• Two main types exist: minimalist and more inclusive or substantive
• Minimalist democratization includes clean elections and basic norms like absence of intimidation and competition between two political parties
• Substantive democratization goes beyond procedures to include a process continually reproduced to regulate power, maximize individual influence over living conditions, and participate in debates

Democratization as a Process

• Democratization involves introducing and extending citizenship rights and creating a democratic state, where these rights have real meaning for people.
• Democratization implies the redistribution of power and is a slow, painful process due to resistance from those invested in the non-democratic status quo
• Democratization is non-linear, and countries may not necessarily achieve and consolidate democracy after authoritarian regimes break down and may experience limited democratization, exclusionary practices, democratic backsliding, or coups

History of Democratization

• Democratization history involves analysis of the number of democracies and autocracies worldwide based on political regimes and assessment by V-Dem's experts
• Democratization history also involves categorizing democratization into chronological "waves"
• Waves imply common causes for democratization and reversal

First Wave of Democratization

• Ist wave occurred, roughly, during the 19th century to 1920s/30s
• Democratization occurred in early nation-states of the West
• Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution created new elites, like bourgeoisie, that wanted a say in governance
• In the 19th and early 20th centuries, working classes pushed for greater inclusion, and capitalist classes granted it to avoid socialist/communist revolution
• Fascism and communism reversal happened after economic crises in the 1920s and 1930s

Second Wave of Democratization

• 2nd democratic wave occurred from 1945-60s
• Imposition/re-establishment of democracy in Europe and Japan after WWII happened
• Decolonisation occurred
• Africa's rapid decolonisation and authoritarian establishment happened during "Reversal"
• Coups happened in Latin America too
• communism spread during this wave

Third Wave of Democratization

• 3rd Wave began in post-1974
• Democratization happened in Southern Europe (Portugal, Greece, Spain)
• Democratization happened in Asian countries (South Korea, Philippines, etc.)
• The Communist block fell in 1989
• 1990s democratisation happened in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Huntington's book focuses on the third wave and analyzes problems regarding legitimacy, socio-economic structural change, liberalization of the Catholic Church, and an international environment change

Pros and Cons of "Waves" of Democratization

• Categorisation draws connections and allows us to identify potential common drivers
• The wave analogy draws attention to democratic reversals
• However, this analogy results in over emphasising regional/global diffusion effects vs domestic factors
• Fairly arbitrary grouping of countries into waves

Explaining Democratization

• Political scientists distinguish three phases: liberalization (authoritarian breakdown), transition (shift to new regime), and consolidation (stabilization of new regime)
• There are no "recipes” for democratization
• Explanations for democratization are rooted in "structure" and "agency"
• Historically, these include: modernisation theory, structuralism, or agency-based approaches

Modernization Theory

• Modernization theory emphasizes structure
• Capitalist modernity leads to democracy, because capitalism facilitates cultural changes
• Modernization has problems because it doesn't account for instances when economic systems do not produce democratization or instances where bourgeoisies do not support democracy
• It also ignores lessons learned from Western historical trajectory & fundamental rest of world

Claims of Modernization Theory Today

• Updates to modernization theory make it less eurocentric
• Focus now is less focused on “liberalisation”/”authoritarian breakdown” but on “consolidation
• Democracy survives better in wealthier nations following democratization, but economic growth doesn't trigger it
• Successful democratization requires shifting political culture, civic freedoms and active civil society

Structuralism

• Long-term changes in social and economic structures determine democratization
• Different socio-political actors determine political regime type through conflicting outcomes
• Problems exist in that a structure limits agency for individuals/groups and isn't good at predicting sudden events

Structuralism's Old School vs New School

• Updated versions: democratization is a consequence of socio-economic and demographic variables, the international context , and economic situation
• In the Arab Spring, high inflation, particularly food prices, and youth unemployment were factors

Agency-Based Approaches

• Agency-based approaches consider that democratization is shaped by actors who make choices.
• Democracy can occur without structural conditions
• People mistake factors that make democracy function well for factors that bring democracy.
• Agency-based approaches: Importance of intuitions and sources of discontent can trigger regime crisis

Conclusion

• Factors affect different stages, such as complex Democratization
• Authoritarian environment often facilities important events
• Transition to democracy happens with negotiated agreements between opposition forces and ancien regime reformers
• Successful consolidation occurs in wealthier countries with educated population