Democracy
Frank H. Brooks
March 23, 2016
Introduction to Political Science
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Conceptualizing Democracy
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As the opposite of authoritarian?
How generally should it be explained?
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Static or dynamic?
– Emphasize variation (Schmitter and Karl)
– Determine commonalities (O’Neil)
– Static
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comparative anatomy of the type
focus on mature democracy
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historical emergence of democracy
democratization recently
– Dynamic
March 23, 2016
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State-centered or society-centered?
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Processes v. outcomes: accountability, responsiveness, etc.
– Institutions, processes, procedures
– Popular attitudes, civic culture, liberties
– Relationship to economic development and to political-economic
system
Introduction to Political Science
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“Democracy” as a Good Thing
• Very modern connotation
– More typically seen as very problematic (mob rule,
demagogues, etc.)
– Why is democracy so popular now?
– Reflects shift in meaning from direct self-rule
• Broader phenomenon of “democracy” typically qualified
by adjectives
– Direct (v. merely representative)
– True (v. formal, superficial, procedural)
– People’s or Socialist (v. bourgeois or capitalist)
• Is the aspiration for democracy a “universal human
value”?
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Introduction to Political Science
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Definitions of Democracy
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O’Neil
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Schmitter and Karl
– “political power exercised either directly or indirectly through participation,
competition, and liberty” (p. 135)
– i.e. power is exercised by the people (though not necessarily directly)
– Focuses on practices of democracy (systems and attitudes implicit)
– Including “liberty” means that “democracy” is liberal democracy
– “a system of governance in which rulers are held accountable for their
actions in the public realm by citizens, acting indirectly through the
competition and cooperation of their elected representatives” (p. 247)
– Accountable: NOT authoritarian
– System: brings institutions and processes more explicitly into definition
– Intrinsically indirect: focus on elected representatives
– Not necessarily “liberal”
– Discussion focuses on variety within the type
• Dahl
– Focusing on “democracy” is unnecessarily confusing
– Define what it is: “polyarchy”
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Introduction to Political Science
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Dahl and Polyarchy
Procedural requirements of a pluralist democracy
1. Control over governmental decisions about policy is constitutionally vested in
elected officials.
2. Elected officials are chosen in frequent and fairly conducted elections in which
coercion is comparatively uncommon.
3. Practically all adults have the right to vote in the election of officials.
4. Practically all adults also have the right to run for elective offices
5. Citizens have a right to express themselves without the danger of severe
punishment on political matters broadly defined
6. Citizens have a right to seek out alternative sources of information. Moreover,
alternative sources of information exist and are protected by law.
7. Citizens also have the right to form relatively independent association or
organizations, including independent political parties and interest groups
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Introduction to Political Science
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Historical Emergence of
Democracy
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That is, how did (liberal) democracy emerge in England
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Consider also later, parallel developments
Especially in U.S., but also France, Germany, etc.
Liberty and limited government came first; democracy much later
– Limits on government power (particularly on the monarch)
– Rule of law
– Separation of powers
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Popular participation – suffrage, political parties
Westminster model: parliamentary, plurality
Are the factors historically important to emergence of liberal
democracy in England necessary for its subsequent emergence?
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March 23, 2016
Weak state
Liberal political culture
Capitalist economy
Secularism
International trade
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Voting and Elections
• Necessary? Sufficient?
• Free, fair and competitive
• Electoral systems
– “the rules that decide how votes are cast, counted, and
translated into seats in a legislature” (O’Neil, p. 141)
– How do elections create/enhance representation?
• Elections not the only mechanism for popular
influence (or for “accountability”)
– E.g. direct action, interest associations, etc.
– Focus on elections stresses role of representatives and
reiterates that popular influence is indirect
March 23, 2016
Introduction to Political Science
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Single Member District v.
Proportional Representation
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Single-member district
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Proportional representation
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One person elected per constituency
“winner take all” plurality – non-winning votes are “wasted”
Sometimes majority, run-off, or preferential
E.g. U.S. (national), UK, Australia
Tends toward 2-party dominance
Multiple representatives per district
Seats allotted proportionately on national basis (or very large districts)
typically party list rather than focus on individual candidates (except at top)
E.g. South Africa, Israel, Brazil
More conducive to multiple parties – votes for smaller parties not “wasted”
Mixed systems
– E.g. Germany – two votes (plurality SMD and PR)
– Vote for candidate and for party
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PR and SMD: Advantages
and Disadvantages
• Proportional Representation
– Greater participation b/c more parties and wider
range of interests represented
– Consensus necessary to form coalitions
– Often recommended for societies with significant
(e.g. ethnic) cleavages
• Single-member district
– More connection between constituents and
representatives (greater accountability to voters)
– Eliminates fringe parties and instability
March 23, 2016
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Competition I:
Political Parties
• Functions
– Interest aggregation and majority rule
– Political mobilization, education, recruitment
– Foster accountability through programs
• Types of parties
– Defined by goals or constituencies
– Parties of interest, program, principle
– Ethnic, sectional, ideological, class, personal
• Party organization
– Centralization, leadership and discipline
– “iron law of oligarchy”
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Competition II:
Separation of Powers
• Parliamentary v. Presidential Systems
• Bicameral Legislatures
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Rooted in class distinctions
Now often linked to federalism
Redundancy promotes competition
May weaken legislature
• Constitutional Courts
– Important to maintain rule of law
– Concrete (judicial) review: specific case must be brought
– Abstract review: consider principles, sometimes before law
promulgated
March 23, 2016
Introduction to Political Science
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Parliamentary v. Presidential
Systems
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Relationship of executive to legislature
Presidential
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Parliamentary
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President elected separately
Both head of state and head of government
Examples: U.S., Mexico, Nigeria, Brazil
President more “legitimate” and “democratic”
More powerful executive, but also possibility of divided government
Prime minister is head of majority party (coalition) in parliament
Head of government (head of state may be monarch)
Examples: Germany, Netherlands, UK
Less conflict between legislature and executive, more effective
Power too concentrated
Semi-presidential systems (e.g. France, Russia)
– Prime minister AND popularly-elected president
March 23, 2016
Introduction to Political Science
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Civil Society
• “Liberal” part of definition
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For rulers to be accountable, has to be a “people”
Private realm v. public realm
Voluntary/civil associations
Tocqueville
• locus of opposition to authoritarian state
• precondition for effective democratic governance
– Formation and expression of interests outside of state
– Between atomized and centralized
– Political mobilization
March 23, 2016
Introduction to Political Science
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“Social Capital”
and Civic Engagement
• Social capital
– “features of social life – networks, norms, and trust – that
enable participants to act together more effectively to
pursue shared objectives” (Putnam)
– Structuralist? Culturalist? Economistic?
– Not necessarily political
• Civic Engagement
– Tocqueville – voluntary associations lead to political
participation
– Decline in associational activity correlated with declining
political participation (especially voting)
– Also with declining trust in government, politics, politicians
March 23, 2016
Introduction to Political Science
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Causes of Declining Social
Capital (“Bowling Alone”)
• Lots of (inadequate) explanations
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Time and money pressures
Mobility and suburbanization
Changing role of women
Changes in family structure
Rise of welfare state
Race and “civil rights revolution”
• Best explanations
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March 23, 2016
Education – correlated with social capital
Generational effect – “long civic generation”
If people more educated, why the decline?
Television
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Critiques of the Focus on
Civil Society
• Berman
– Associationism can undermine civic engagement and
democracy
– Rise of Nazis in Weimar Germany (weak state, ineffective
liberal and conservative parts, lots of civic associations)
– Associationism is “neutral political multiplier”
– Cf. Islamist groups in Middle East
• Stepan – focus on “political society”
– Liberalization means increasing civil liberties in civil society
– Democratization relates to “core institutions of a democratic
political society” (e.g. parties, elections, intraparty alliances)
March 23, 2016
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