What makes a successful democracy
Stateness (state that functions well)
Myerson: respecting local leadership, balancing local and national power, and dispersing foreign assistance
Democratic establishment must also respect former regimes
Fukuyama: can be modeled by the United States and its balanced division of power,
failed or weak state is described as often having serious problems such as “poverty and AIDS to drug trafficking and terrorism”
Can measure success of a state with strength and scope
Strength: can be measured on a continuum from necessary to optional and even to destructive
Scope: “ability to enact statutes, frame and execute policies; administer public business with relative efficiency; to control corruption, and bribery; maintain high levels of transparency and accountability to enforce laws”
What is Democracy: Shared themes: Sen, Diamond, Schmitter and Karl
democracies do not always guarantee stronger economies than other regimes
Diamond: Authoritarianism does not require consent of governed, can compromise individuals for economic gain
citizens need to be allowed to participate in politics and take action
accountability
Schmitter and Karl: Democracy's freedoms should encourage deliberation among citizens to resolve various issues without authority involved
Sen: freedom of press keeps accountability from outside perspective
Sen and Diamond: action can make a difference in the incentives of the government's operations, which makes them crucial for democracy
Relationship between democracy and culture
Culture influences social norms, identity, values, which built political identities
Religion: Separation of church and state allows free exercise for all citizens in a democracy
Democracy is not one size fits all, can be shaped to fit different cultural ideologies
Connection to Sen article: different values in Asian vs. Western values in democratic systems
Rule of Law
Could democracies have established religions and still function?
O'Donnell: in any quality democracy, rule of law is essential
ensures political rights, civil liberty, and political equality in which civilians can hold govt responsible
Fukuyama: liberal democracy needs 2 iinstitutions
Democratic institutions that ensure accountability
liberal institutions that provide for rule of law
Mungiu: huge anticorruption industry, yet the anticorruption efforts often fail
3 types of corruption: Patrimonialism, competitive particularism, universalism
most non-European countries fall somewhere on a continuum of these 3 corruption types
Civil society
Diamond: involves people acting collectively to express interests, achieve goals, hold state accountable
"ideological marketplace," mass media, universities, theaters, etc.
role in democracy: basis for limitation of state power
Harik: 7 out of 20 Arab states have democracies- functions of government are being delegated to citizens
Arab political tradition remains tightly intertwined with historical Islamic doctrines: typically authoritarian
Putnam: evidence that civil action has declined in US
social capital: "When economic and political negotiation is embedded in dense
networks of social interaction, incentives for opportunism are reduced."
Voting has decreased since 1990, yet education has increased
Social trust is down which correlates with civil engagement
individual reading: democratic backslide in US due to jan 6th insurrection, gender inequality, supreme court decisions, state education bans
Sundaresan, Mano: Backslide might not be all negative: better voter turnout, more women in congress, more electoral participation