POLS 241 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Planned Economy, Irredentism, Polyarchy
27 Oct 2013
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3 minimal conditions for a democracy to be consolidated: 1) there must be the existence of a state. Must meet the seven basic institutional requirements for elections in a polyarchy: 3) the rulers must govern democratically. Therefore if freely elected executives infringe the constitution, violate the rights of individuals and minorities ect their regimes are not democracies. Only democracies can become consolidated democracies: we are not dealing with liberalized nondemocratic regimes, pseudodemocracies or hybrid democracies. Within the category of consolidated democracies there is a continuum from low-quality to high quality democracies. Improving the quality of consolidated democracies is an urgent political and intellectual task. 5 other interconnected and mutually reinforcing conditions other than the state: 1) the conditions must exist for a free and lively civil society. However, at the moment of democratic transition democratic leaders often argue that civil society, having played its historic role, should be demobilized so as to allow for the development of normal democratic politics.
