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LSE GV101 Intro to Political Science Lecture Notes
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GV101 Lecture NotesWeek 2: Why are Some Countries Democratic
Procedural Democracy
Emphasis on system of voting over consequence
Polyarchy
Robert Dahl 1971
Freedom of association
Universal suffrage
Right to stand as a candidate
Fair elections
Policies depend on election results
Substantive Democracy: consequences of democracy
Joseph Schumpter (1942)
Competition of votes between groups of elites
Przeworski, Alvarez, Cheihub, Limongi (2000)
chief executive is elected
Legislature is elected
More than one party
An Alternation in power under Electoral Rules
Measuring Democracy
Polity Score -10,+10
Competitiveness of exec recruitment
Openness of exec recruitment
Power Constraints of execs
Freedom of political participation
Competitive ness of participation
Autocracy: a state or society governed by one person with absolute power
Anocracy: Semi-Democratic
Variety of Democracy: V-dem
Multi-dimensional dataset, uses 5 principles of democracy
Electoral, Liberal, Participatory, deliberative, egalitarian
Shows a rise in electoral democracy and autocracy
Liberal democracy: substantive style democracy, rights are protected
,Explaining democracies
Economics
Lipsit (1959)
Democracy related to economic development/industrialization
Modernization Theory
Traditional society
Large agricultural sector
Small industry and service sector
Low education
Dictatorship
Modern society
Small Agricultuire
Wealth decentralized: exchange of political power and government revenue
Large urban middle class
Universal education
Democracy
Przeworski et al (2000)
Hypothesis:
Democracy is more common in rich countries
As wealth is decentralized and increases dictatorship becomes unlikely
Wealth matters cause democracy is stable in rich countries, unstable in poor
Transitions in poor countries don’t remain, Egyptian Revolution
Culture
Almond, verba (1963)
Idea of civic culture
Social trust
Putnam (1993)
Some are blessed with vibrant network and norms of civic engagement, drives
structured politics
Huntington (1996), Clash of civilizations
Some cultures are more amenable for democracy than others
Conflict will arise from cultural tensions not economics or political
Hypothesis
Democracy is more common in some cultures that support democratic values,
liberty, freedom of expression, equality
Economic development does not cause democracy, but leads to cultural change -
democracy
,The Ingelhart-Welzel World Cultural map
Divide world into cluster dimensions Traditonal-secular and Survival – self expression
Argues as economy develops, civic culture is able to thrive
Strategic Bargains
Acemoglu, Robinson (2006)
Elites would like to prevent revolution
Credible commitment to pro-majority polices
Within non democracies promises are not credible
Transfer of political power to majority provides credibility and appeases the masses
Rich elite vs Pivotal poor voter
Low tax vs High Tax
Preference gap depends on structure of inequality
Dictatorship Bargain
Elite promises redistribution to poor
Or Elite repress poor
Costs vs benefits decision on revolt
Why do bargains break down?
Incomplete info, not knowing each others preferences
Credibility of future promises
Repression costs vs inequality matrix
Foa, Mounk – Democratic Deconsolidation
Population claiming it is essential to live in democracy decreasing
More people want strong leaders
SUMMARY Week 2
Main explanations of democracy
Economic Development
Cultural Values
Strategic Bargain
Debate of inequality: Undermines vs reinforces Democratization
Democratic sentiment has slowly been decreasing over time and is under threat
, Week 3 Non-Democracies
Types of dictatorships
Absolute – Monarchies/dictatorship
Elected assemblies exist to be consulted
Military dictatorships
Government composes of a committee or junta – senior figure in armed forces
Civilian Dictatorship
Non-democratic regime, non-competitive single party systems or semi-competitive
Russia, Singapore, Uganda.
Huge reduction in military and Monarchies over time
Regime strategy – more elections but fraudulent elections
Incumbent: Holder of office
Authoritarian Election
Elections in one party states where open competition is prohibited or hindered.
Competition in access to state resources (Lust 2009)
Single party elections:
candidates are restricted to single party, and selected by high party officials
Vietnam 2016 , Cuba
Multiparty elections (hegemonics):
All candidates are permitted however dominant party retains power through
manipulation of electoral procedures
Russia, Tallying of data manipulation
The dictator’s credibility dilemma
Absolute power = uncredible promises
How elections help dictatorships
Provide elites with a secure source of patronage : they compete for influence and
favours not power
Give Elites Stake in outcome of elections, fewer incentives to overthrow
Divide opposition groups, prevent consolidated groups, capitalize on divisions
Follow rules, creates stable political environment
How dictatorships work
Selectorate theory (Mesquita et al)
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