LIBERAL AND ILLIBERAL
DEMOCRACY
READINGS
 Smith, Democracy, chs. 9-11
 Modern Latin America, ch. 4 (Central America)
 NB: Optional paper due May 28
ANALYTICAL PAPER
 8-10 pages (double-spaced)
 Prior approval of topic by TA
 kdove@ucsd.edu
 Define a question or “puzzle”
 Explain choice of country (or site)
 Describe sources
 Present evidence
 Conclude with (tentative) answer to question
DETECTING ILLIBERAL
DEMOCRACY
The Rise of Electoral Democracy, 1972-2004
20
18
16
12
Autocracy
10
Semidemocracy
Democracy
8
6
4
2
0
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
N Countries
14
Year
THE CONCEPT OF ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY
• Distinct Dimensions of Democracy:
Free and Fair Elections
 Citizen Rights

• Systematic Curtailment of Citizen Rights
Democracy, Elections, and Citizen Rights:
A Typology
Citizen Rights
Character of Elections
Free and Fair
Free not Fair
None
Expansive
Liberal Democracy
Liberal/Permissive
Semidemocracy
(Null)
Limited
Illiberal Democracy
Illiberal/Restrictive
Semidemocracy
Moderate
Dictablanda
Minimal
(Null)
Repressive
Semidemocracy
Hard-Line
Dictadura
Journalists Killed in Latin America, 1990-1999
Country___
Colombia
Peru
Mexico
Brazil
Haiti
Argentina
Guatemala
Venezuela
Chile
Dominican
Republic
Honduras
Paraguay
Total
__ N Killings__
36
12
10
8
4
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
82
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, Attacks on the Press in 1999 (New York:
CPJ, 2000), 23.
Electoral Regimes and Freedom of the Press, 1990s
Press____
Not Free
Partly Free
Free
Totals
_________________Regime____________________
Autocracy
Semi-Democracy
Democracy
1
5
2
1
26
51
0
0
47
2
31
100
CLASSIFYING CITIZEN RIGHTS
(Freedom House scales for “Civil Liberties”)
• FH scores of 1-2 = Extensive
• FH scores of 3-4 = Partial
• FH scores of 5-7 = Minimal
T a b le 1 -2. E lectora l R eg im es a nd C iv il L ib erties, 1 9 7 0 s -2 0 0 0
1 9 7 2 -7 9
E lectoral T ype
Status of
C ivil Liberties*
D ictatorship
Sem i -D em ocracy
D em ocracy
M inim al
22
0
0
Partial
88
3
10
0
1
28
110
4
38
E xpansive
T otals
gam m a = +.994
*C ategorized as follow s: E xpansive=Freed om H ou se scores of 1 or 2; Partial – Freedom H ouse score s
of 3 -5; M inim al=Freedom H ouse scores of 6 -7.
1980-1989
Civil Liberties___
Minimal
Partial
Extensive
Totals
________________Regime___________________
Autocracy
Semi-Democracy Democracy
15
59
1
1
30
4
0
41
39
75
35
80
1990-2000
Civil Liberties___
Minimal
Partial
Extensive
Totals
_________________Regime_________________
Autocracy
Semi-Democracy Democracy
3
4
0
0
53
2
0
109
38
7
55
147
Figure 10-1. The Progression of Illiberal Democracy, 1970s-2000
100
90
80
70
Percent
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1972-79
1980-89
1990-2000
Period
Partial Civil Liberties
Expansive Civil Liberties
Political Regimes in 1999: Countries and Population
Regime Type___
N
__Countries__
%
__Population__
Liberal Democracy
3
<5
Illiberal Democracy
11
60
Illiberal Semi-Democracy
5
33
Autocracy
1
2
Liberal and Illiberal Democracy, 1978-2004
18
16
N Democracies
14
12
10
Illiberal
8
Liberal
6
4
2
0
1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004
Year
AND NOW…?
 Liberal Democracy (n=7)
 Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama,
Uruguay
 Illiberal Democracy (n=7)
 Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru
 Illiberal Semidemocracy (n=5)
 Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Venezuela
 Authoritarian (1)
 Cuba
Why Illiberal Democracy?
 In case of center and center-right democracies, the
illiberal regimes:




Protect elite interests
Control the popular masses
Under the rubric of free and fair elections
Thus gaining international approval.
 In case of progressive “new left” regimes, the
opposition:



Has the money
Has control of the press
Does not play by democratic rules
SO WHAT? CYCLES OF MASS POLITICS
 Unfettered
and “dangerous” democracy (e.g.,
reformists + Allende) [1950s-]
 Military coups and authoritarian regimes [1960s-]
 Democracy contained [1980s-]:
Neoliberal economics, Washington consensus
Institutional constraints (e.g. MRO)
Illiberal democracy
 Rise of the “new Left” [1990s-]
The End