PSC 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Political Freedom, Non-Governmental Organization
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Published on 7 Nov 2016
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-Political freedom in the world
-Waves of Democratization
-Types of representation
-Successful democracies hinge on population making choices
-True meaningful competition if there is democracy
-Choosing who rules you, make choices freely
Freedom House
-An independent watchdog non-governmental organization for 75 years
-Monitoring and nurturing political freedom in the world
“We recognize that freedom is possible only in democratic political environments where
governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of
expression, association, and belief, as well as the respect for the rights of minorities, and
women, are guaranteed.”
-Develop an index to find level of freedom (question asked about “partially free”) develop a
legend based on a number of things such as free elections, etc.
-MONITOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
-Necessary for political freedom because they are the vehicle for the information provided to the
public about their country. If only government documents are released, “You are a slave to the
government.”
-People's Republic of China controls access on the internet. Largely Asia and Africa are not
free, North America, Europe and Australia appear to be the only areas that have free press.
Geography of political freedom in the world-index scores are a grouping together in certain
areas. In relation to the possibility of democracy
-How extensive is the right to participate? Universal suffrage-every person in the country with
the right to vote is a gold standard.
1900, no, 1950 better, 2000 better still (%Country to %Population).
Three Waves of Democratization (Samuel P. Huntington, 1991)
-First Wave: 1826-1926
-First Reverse Wave: 1922-1942
-Second Wave: 1943-1964 (32)
-Second Reverse Wave: 1961-1974
-Third Wave: 1974--? (70)
New democracies are created and fall (Definition of a reverse wave)
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