Unit 3: Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Political Systems PDF

Unit 3: Democracy, Authoritarianism, And Political Systems Polyarchy-Dahl Robert Alan o Multiple groups compete for power o Liberal freedoms, competitive politics, broad participation o Contrasts with hegemony’s- single party dominance o Rules of a democr...

Unit 3: Democracy, Authoritarianism, And Political Systems Polyarchy-Dahl Robert Alan o Multiple groups compete for power o Liberal freedoms, competitive politics, broad participation o Contrasts with hegemony’s- single party dominance o Rules of a democracy § Formulate preferences, signify preferences, have those preferences weighed fairly o Dimensions of Democratization § ↓Public Contestation/Inclusiveness=hegemony § ↑Public Contestation/Inclusiveness=polyarchy § ↓Public Contestation, ↑Inclusiveness=Inclusive hegemony § ↑Public Contestation, ↓ Inclusiveness=competitive oligarchy o Historical Sequences § Liberalization precedes inclusiveness-England Sweden (Most stable but no longer viable) § Inclusiveness precedes liberalization-Weimar Germany § Shortcut-Post war Japan o 8 Guarantees of democracy § Formation/joining organizations, expression, voting, public oSice, compete for support/votes, alternative information sources, free elections, institutions depend on citizens’ expressions of preference o Public Contestation→innovation of policy o Inclusiveness→specificity of policy Democratization- Carles Boix and Susan Stokes o Lipset § modernization=democracy o Przeworski § Development prevents deterioration of democracy o Pre/Post 1950 Democratization diSers (easier before, mostly oligarchies which is an easier transition) o Capital Mobility, elites have to be worried about losing finances, if they can move their money freely, they’re less scared o Acemoglue/Robinson § Determined by elites fear of revolution, can they compete for power? Intense recession causes that fear o Bueno de Mesquita et al. § Winning Coalition (small is easier to maintain as authoritarian) o Gaziorowsky: neighbor eSect o Resource Curse-no incentive to democratize, economy is fine § Fish o Issues with current approaches  § Diverse pathways to democracy: Single Party (most likely transition), Military junta (very likely transition because of existing infrastructure), personalistic (least likely to transition) § Role of authoritarian regimes in shaping democratization § External Factors: Internet/Colonialism § Empirical weaknesses in testing theories:revolutions are all so diSerent Competitive Authoritarianism-Levitsky o Competitive Authoritarianism=Incomplete democracies o Breaks 4 Rules of Democracy § Execs and legislature is chosen in open, free, fair elections § VIRTUALLY all adults can vote § Political rights/liberties § Elected authorities possess real authority o 4 arenas of contsetation § Electoral arena-leader § Legislative arena-checks/balances § Judicial-public disapproval § Media-inform participants o 3 Paths to Competitive Authoritarianism § Decay of authoritarianism § Collapse of authoritarianism § Decay of democracy o Post Cold War: Hard to make a state of any kind, many states decay though, think middle east. Although, huge lberal hegemony prevents many o Totalitarianism § All encompassing ideology, terror, propaganda, state has say in private AND public life, infallibility of gov o Authoritarianism § No comprehensive ideology, limited independent institutions, political passivity, private life remains, opposition is oppressed o Bureaucratic-Authoritarian § Military as an institution o Sultanistic § Personal rule, ruler is there for himself, extreme patronage o Neopatrimonial § Dualism, hybrid governance, patronage/clientelism→corrupt o Geddes Typology § Single Party military, peresonalistic, easy transition to democracy o Slovik Typology § Military involvement, restriction on parties and selected legislature/executive o Competitive Authoritarianism Versus Facade regimes  § Meaningful contestation, Competition, Participation, Rights, Horizontal Accountability o Brown Areas: State can’t reach certain areas of a population (Think china’s size) Institutions-Lipjhart o Workhorse Model-2 group model, Median Voter Thoery (MVT) § Extensions 3 class model (rich, poor, mid class), reduced, simple mode, § Unrealistic, some people do “matter” more, power rests with elites o Westminster Model of Democracy-British Parliament § 10 aspects Concentration of exec power in one party/bare majority cabinets Cabinet dominance Two party system Majoritarian/disproportional system of elections Interest group pluralism Centralized Gov Concentration of legislative power in unicameral legislature Constitutional flexibility Absense of Judicial Review Executive controlled Central Bank § First past the most (manufactured majority, eSicient, but highly concentrated power) o Consensus Model § Multiparty coalition, proportional rep, bicameralism, rigid constitutions/judicial review o Presidentialism § president/legislature elected separately, both have power (horizontal accountability) o Parliamentarism § Coalition Building (many small parties, party discipline, o Two Party Systems § Decivie gov, simplicity for voters, polarization o Multi-party § Better diversity, coalition building, unstablek Party Machines-Susan Stokes o Organized political group that distributes material benefits to support a leader o Repeated game to SECURE VOTES o BROKERS § Middle man between politician/people § Identify needs, monitor a community, retaliate against those who threaten withdrawal  § Controlled because they are in smaller communities, hierarchy, info flows o Maisanta Database § Classify voters, turnout tracking, focuses on the poor (swing voters, loyalists, opposers) o PERVERSE ACCOUNTABILITY-parties monitor constituent voting o Acrgentina, reduced anonymity on the ballot, easy for brokers to monitor o As ideological gap between candidates shrinks, vote buying is easier o Monitoring of Votes § Machine organization structure (how much extension), community structure (size), technology (how anonymous) Backsliding- Levitsky o 4 Red flags Juan Linz § Rejection of democratic rules, denial of opponents’ legitimacy, toleration of violence, readiness to curtail opponents’ civil liberties § Hungary: Leader was hated, new one elected, slowly restructured electoral system/constituion→authoritarianism o White Identity: nationalism/polarization/alienation o Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index § 5 principles Electoral process, functioning of gov, political participation, political culture, civil liberties o Chile 1973 § Democracy overturned by a military coup § How MOST democracies die Can also be slow/political… what’s happening to america o 2 tests of a countries vulnerability to backslide § Give authoritarian individual power § Allow them to push democratic boundaries o Fateful alliances § Think mussolini, hitler: big following to MAYBE fix economy § The people aren’t in full control, poli leaders must see red flags: pres hindenburg and hitler o Keep authoritarians out by isolating and detecting extremism § Not on the ballot, avoid alliances, delegitimize, united front o Belgium/Finland post WWI both defended democracy Unit 4: Revolutions and Protests Theory- Davies o Revolution is higher magnitude than rebellion § New ruling coalition with a broader base of support, structural changes o Tilly § Response to discontent, level of group organization, top down/bottom up, acces to resources, opportunity  o Moment of Mobilization § Marx: Revolution when conditions deteriorate § Toqueville: Revolution when conditions are improving § J CURVE: expectation-reality gap There has to be hope for something better Social Revolutions-Skocpol o Contrasts with Davies’ theory: base does not have to be broadened o 3 aspects § Incapacitation of central admin/military machine § Peasant rebellions § Marginal elite political movements o 3 accomplishments § nationalization/centralization of institutions § Remove traditional landed upper class from oppressor § Quasi-political supervision of peasantry and elimination of econ power of landed upper class o Social revolutions easy because peasants have the majority o Limited direct supervision and conflict→ revolution based on peasant majority o Samuel Huntington: revolution is rapid, fundamental, violent, domest change in dominant society o Lenin: Festival is festival of the oppressed o Landlords are vulnerable when… § Sanctioning machines are centralized § Agricultural work/social life is run b y peasants Passive Resistance- James Scott o Weapon of the weak § Self help (avoid confrontation, maximixe individual wellbeing) § No organization, covert, immediate gains § The more attached to the symbolic hegemony, the less likely WOTW is Sympbolic alignment=strengthed mystification o False Consciousness § Do the peasants ACTUALLY agree with the will of the regime Revolutionary Threshold- Timur Kuran o Green Grocer § Grocer takes down a pro worker sign knowing there will be consequences § When does the sign get taken down? When everyone else takes theirs too o Existing Theories § Structuralist: gov can’t stop revolution, elites can disrupt government (not maintain status quo) § Relative deprivation: J Curve (DAVIES) § Rational Choice: Cost benefit  o Problems with existing theories § Element of surprise § Timing problem o Preference falsification § Publicly support, privately oppose § Creates illusion of stability § internal/external payoSs of revolution o Early defectors→spark snowball eSect o Pluralilstic Ignorance § Individuals’ private views ≠ the perceived majority Potential for sudden collapse o Predicting revolutions is lowkey impossible: hindsight is 2020: imperfectly observable, o Revolutionary bandwagons o Implications of a sudden revolution § Regimes are more vulnerable than they appeared § Suppoort from even the most genuine sympathizers is thin REVIEW SESSION o General review § 5/10 multiple choice § 5/10 short answer 2 sentences § 2/4 essay questions 150-200 words § Examples Could be “compare two authors” REVOLUTION question-compare two revolution authors § 30 points total 5 points multiple choice 10 points multiple choice 15 points essay o Unit 2 § Tilly: State making as organized crime Stationary bandit- conceptualize extraction as just enough, realistically, it is significantly more § State sells protection (racketeering!) State uses scare tactics→people pay taxes for protection § Sovereign state and it’s competitors Freeriding Darwinian selection Distinction between sovereign state, city state, hanseatic league § Measurement capacity Standardization of weights/measure and such  Allows for ruler to see how much each member of society is contributing and such o How much can a ruler eSectively tax o Unit 3 § Buena de Mesquita: small winning coalition is worse for democracy- easier to give material benefits to a small group, less ideological diversity § External factors have more of an impact on democratization than people give credit for § Know paths to polyarchy § Brokers role in party machine Low level bureaucrats associated with a party Distribute cheap goods (food, healthcare, etc), measure defection o Generally independent–hard for parties to command Strongman trying to distribute rents Don’t exist in a full democracy– partial democracies and competitive authoritarianism Don’t obey the party→don’t receive a good Early 2000s protests against french supermarket, main members were low income, brokers brought people to the protests, for political involvement o Unit 4 § Know ups and downs of pre revolutionary period Imperial russia: reform →repression →reform →repression →revolution § Marginal elite: organizes revolution and what post revolution will look like § Know rational choice theory-not in depth § Pluralistic ignorance is the eSect of preference falsification