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- - Robert Dahl
- o The procedural minimum (the minimum of what you need to be democratic) definition of democracy through his seven attributes, which basically say that democracy requires free and fair elections, along with protection of civil liberties o If a state claiming to be a democracy were to not extend all of their protections to all of their citizens, that Dahl would not consider that state to be a democracy.
- - “Expanded procedural minimum†definition of democracy
- o This definition of democracy takes Dahl’s procedural minimum and adds, making it: free and fair elections, protection of civil liberties, and effective power to govern o Schmitter and Karl wanted to add that unelected officials can’t have the power to veto decisions of elected officials, nor can they make decisions of their own.
- - “First movers†in a democratic transition
- o The first-movers in democratic transitions are the ideologues, who are usually students; students have little to lose (in case the repercussions are major), and they are young, have no families, and are ideologically optimistic and motivated o The students may speak out first, but they are followed by artists, and then professionals, who help to bolster the ranks of supporters behind the students’ ideologies.
- - Pacted transition
- o Hardliners and softliners of the authoritarian regime are up against moderates and radicals of the democratic opposition; strong leaders of each party (especially softliners and moderates) negotiate o A pacted transition took place in South Africa in 1944: the hardliners were the Conservative Party, softliners were the National Party and FW de Klerk, the moderates included Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress, and the radicals were the Pan African Congress.
- - Imposed transition
- o This transition occurs when the leaders decide to leave power on their own; they know that they’ll get more of what they want if they back our slowly: BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) o In Brazil in the 1980s, economic pressures threatened the Brazilian generals in charges. They introduced minor civil rights and two political parties, all of which they themselves controlled, and then slowly left power (despite the slow transition, they still didn’t get the outcome they wanted in the long run).
- - Programmatic challenge for labor-based parties
- o No matter all the things that they might want to include in their ideology (wage raises, etc.), but the same benefits can’t be provided (people have less money to support companies that would support the parties), so the parties’ ideology is faulted o Brazil’s political parties face programmatic challenges, and it is affecting their ability to intermediate the desires of their constituents.
- - Interest group
- o A group designed to organize, channel, and defend the interests of their constituency in the political arena, often seeking to influence who gets elected and the decisions of those that are elected, as well as simply raising awareness about their issue o The National Rifle Association (NRA) is an interest group designed to lobby on behalf of those in favor of the use of personal firearms.
- - Nazism
- o Nazism is a subset of fascism, where the difference is that a revolutionary element is more important than the nationalist element, plus the Aryan racial superiority is emphasized even more o Spread by Adolph Hitler in Germany, causing WWII.
- - Leninism
- o A branch of fascism; plus provided a strong ideology, power (from the intelligent people behind it), a plan (millenarian), and personal charisma (apolistic leaders) to fill the void within Russia
- - Stalin
- o Lenin’s successor; created cult of personality, five-year plans (restructuring of the economy), cadres (groups of elites), and the secret police (above the law; dominated all social institutions), his regime characterized by brutal repression
- - Khrushchev
- o Stalin’s successor; he attempted reforms, first by destroying the cults of personality, then had head of secret police shot and tried to break cadre’s monopoly of power; the regime was no longer terrorizing, but he wasn’t completely successful, and was strongly encouraged to step down, which he did
- - Cadres
- o The political and social base of the party, they eventually became their own social class, and were the core members of the party; they provided on the ground information about what was going on in the Soviet Union, and in return, got special privileges like better food and clothes, plus more power o Elitist parties in Russia with no connection to the masses, who didn’t have the right to vote at the time, plus very decentralized with no real hierarchy; were popular with Stalin as his main supporting upper class
- - Glasnost
- o Means “openness†or “transparencyâ€; Gorbachev’s thought was to open the government up a little bit, so that inefficiency would be publicized and the people would want to do something about it; nuclear power plant exploded, which was more important o Glasnost was used to by Gorbachev in an attempt to involve the people more, as well as to lessen the corruption in the state.
- - Perestroika
- o Means “restructuringâ€; made citizenship separate from the party, tried to take the decision-making away from the party and give it to civil society, but the economy was still doing very poorly o Perestroika was used to by Gorbachev in an attempt to involve the people more, as well as to lessen the corruption in the state.
- - Duverger’s Law
- o States that plurality will favor a two-party system, while proportional representation has conditions that favor multiple parties o In plurality, such as with the United States, party ideology will become increasingly moderate and centrist in order to appeal to a larger electoral base.
- - 3 ways that economic development might support democracy
- o Education (making more informed decisions about politics), urbanization (concentration of people creates opportunity to discuss politics), associational life (makes collective action easier) o Economic development, like in Third World countries, will in turn create more education, urbanization, and associational life, which are all qualities that are good for democracy.
- - Barbara Geddes
- o Says that elections in authoritarian countries tend to stabilize rule and legitimize the regime, and those regimes last twice as long as those that don’t hold elections, though maybe elections are held only by popular leaders to give the illusion of choice to the people; parties are kind of an illusion as well o Trujillo’s regime in the Dominican Republic might not have lasted as long as it did if he had not held his fixed elections.
- - 3 functions that political parties serve in a democracy
- o Structure the popular vote (allow local leaders to link up nationally), act as interest intermediaries (aggregate (lump together) and articulate interests of the electorate), provide information shortcuts (snapshot of a candidate’s ideals just because of their party affiliation) o The USA’s Republican Party does all of these things, which contributes to the democracy as a whole.