GOV 312L Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Democratic Peace Theory, Democracy Promotion, Conditionality
Document Summary
Describe robert dahl"s three procedural minimal conditions of democracy. A country is a democracy if they have free + fair competitive elections. Robert dahl"s three procedural minimal conditions of democracy. Dahl created conditions to truly check if an election is free and fair. The right of citizens to freely express themselves, form associations, receive information from media (freedom of press) Universal and equal participation from all segments of society. Decision is ultimately made by the people. Creation of truly power legislative bodies + chief executives. If the decision is made by unelected bodies like the military/religious authorities, they are not a democracy. War between democracies are less likely, they will be peaceful towards each other but will not be peaceful towards autocracies. Electoral constraints raise the political costs associated with war. Institutional checks and balances make peace settlements more durable because democracy helps to solve the commitment problem.
