POL S 6 Chapter 6: CH 6 Notes Democratic Regimes
EMAILED QUESTIONS
What is democracy and where does it come from?
1)
What are the institutions of the democratic state? How do they vary across
countries?
2)
Which democratic system do you think is best? (E.g. presidential vs.
parliamentary, bicameral vs. unicameral, federal vs. unitary, etc.)
3)
Defining Democracy
Greek etymology: demos = "the common people", kratia = "power/rule"
○
Democracy: a political system in which political power is exercised either
directly or indirectly by the people
Exercise of power takes three forms
Participation: voting and elections
□
Competition: between political parties
□
Liberty: freedom of speech, assembly, etc.
□
§
○
Liberal democracy: a political system that promotes participation,
competition, and liberty, and emphasizes individual freedom and civil
rights
Rooted in the ideology of liberalism
§
○
•
Origins of Democracy
Liberal democracy originates from ancient Greece and Rome
○
Greek democracies provided the foundation for public participation
Allowed a strict membership of the public to make governing
decisions
§
This made the people the state, because they directly chose policies
§
Idea of popular sovereignty
§
○
Roman Empire brought about republicanism
Republicanism: indirect democracy that emphasizes the separation
of powers within a state and the representation of the public
through elected officials
Separation of powers: the clear division of power among
different branches of government and the provision that
specific branches may check the power of other branches
Opposed to direct participation of the people and
uncontrolled power of monarchs
®
□
§
Influenced creation of legislative bodies like the senate
§
○
Two Forms of Democracy
Direct Democracy: public participated directly in governance and
policy making; historically found in small communities such as
ancient Athens
§
Indirect Democracy: public participates indirectly thru its elected
representatives; the prevalent form of democracy in the modern
age
§
○
Magna Carta
Document that curbed the rights of the king and laid the foundation
for an early form of legislature
§
Key to republicanism
§
Asserted that all free men should have due process before the law
Present idea of liberty□
§
Presented the idea that no individual, including the king, was above
the law
§
Clear separation of power in England facilitated individual freedom
§
○
•
Modernization and Democratization
Theory that democratization is caused by modernization
○
Look back to the modernization theory and behavioral revolution
○
Modernization = better education, greater equality, economic prosperity,
etc.
○
Modernization theory suggests that as societies become better educated
and more economically sophisticated, they need greater control over the
state
○
Modernization became irrelevant to democracy 1970s
Held that wealth and economic development were critical to the
survival of any democracy
§
○
•
Elites and Democratization
Scholars who turned away from modernization theory concentrated on
the strategies of political elites
○
The modernization theory centered on the idea that a middle class was
necessary for democratization and that overall poverty can obstruct
democracy
○
Distribution of wealth was significant
Political change is unlikely if power is concentrated in the hands of
few
§
○
Wealth is not static, and the resources providing wealth will inevitably
change
○
•
Society and Democratization
Importance of society's political power
○
Civil society: organizations outside of the state that help people define
and advance their own interests
"art of association"
§
○
Civil society = many organizations (not only political) created by people to
help define their own interests
Serve as a vehicle for democratization by allowing people to
support what's important to them
§
○
Democratization is more likely with civil society because it allows for
small-scale political mobilization and ideas to spread
○
Powerful incentive for democratic change
○
•
International Relations and Democratization
Foreign investment, globalization, and trade may progress
democratization due to their modernizing qualities
○
Elites may be pushed to favor democracy (international pressure or
incentives)
○
International education and media may strengthen civil society
○
International influence depends on how much contact a country may
have with the rest of the world (e.g. North Korea isolation)
○
•
Culture and Democratization
Political culture influences relationships between freedom and equality
○
The idea that Western democracy gave way to modernity and not the
other way around
If this is true, then farther from the West means less democracy
§
Difficult to test and very stereotypical
§
○
Political culture can shape the character of democracy in a given country
○
•
Many reasons why a country may be democratized
All of these factors play some sort of role in each case of democratization
○
Modernization sets the stage for political activity
○
Civil society = expression of political activity
○
Elites can be influenced in many ways
○
Culture can encourage certain ideas either for or against democracy
○
•
Institutions of the Democratic State
Executives, Legislatures, Judiciaries
○
Executives: Head of State and Head of Government
Executive: the branch of govt. that carries out the laws and policies
of a state
§
Two distinct executive roles
Head of state: the executive role that symbolizes and
represents the people both nationally and internationally
Embodies/articulates the goals of the regime
®
Conducts foreign policy
®
Wages war
®
May be a monarch or president (president has fixed
term)
®
□
Head of government: the executive role that deals with the
everyday tasks of running the state, such as formulating and
executing policy
Has a cabinet of ministers who run specific policy areas
(e.g. education and agriculture)
®
Usually referred to as prime ministers: they serve as the
main executive over other ministers in their cabinet
(prime minister has unfixed term)
®
□
IN THE USA, roles are COMBINED… president is both head of
state and head of government
□
§
○
Legislatures: Unicameral and Bicameral
Legislature: the branch of govt. charged with making laws
Lots of power over the executive□
Prime engine of policy/legislation□
§
Bicameral system: a political system in which the legislature
comprises two houses
Goes back to feudal England□
Upper house checks the lower house to ensure that they
don't make rash emotional/passionate decisions
□
Upper houses can amend or veto legislation that came from
the lower house
However, upper houses are generally weaker than
lower houses
®
□
Tenure: Members of upper house serve longer than lower
house
□
Characterizes majority of liberal democracies□
Federal states rely on upper house to represent local interests
Members want to oversee legislation
®
□
§
Unicameral system: a political system in which the legislature
comprises one house
Characterizes smaller countries□
§
○
Judiciaries and Judicial Review
Constitution = fundamental expression of the regime and
justification for its legislation + the power of
executives/legislatures/other political actors
§
Rule of law: a system in which all individuals and groups, including
those in govt., are subjected to the law, irrespective of their power
or authority
Law is sovereign over all people□
Judicial institutions uphold this law□
§
Judiciaries vary because laws are interpreted and reviewed in
different ways
§
Constitutional court: the highest judicial body in a political system
that decides whether laws and policies violate the constitution
§
Judicial review: the mechanism by which courts can review the
actions of the govt. and overturn those that violate the constitution
As constitutions define more rights, there is greater need for
judiciaries to rule on them
□
§
In some countries judicial review is implicitly institutionalized, and
in some it is written in the constitution
§
Different forms of judicial review
Concrete review: judicial review that allows the constitutional
court to rule on the basis of actual legal disputes brought
before it
□
Abstract review: judicial review that allows the constitutional
court to rule on questions that don't arise from actual legal
disputes
□
§
Courts differ in the timing of their review
Some review only after legislation is passed□
Some review before□
§
Courts differ in the appointment/tenure of their judges
Typically fixed terms (e.g. lifetime tenure of U.S. Supreme
Court Judges)
□
§
○
•
Models of Democracy: Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential
Systems
Parliamentary System: a political system in which the roles of head of
state and head of govt. are assigned to separate executive offices
Prime ministers and their cabinets come out of the legislature
Cabinet = other ministers who make up the govt.□
The legislature is also the instrument that elects and removes
the prime minister from office
Prime minster is the head of the lower house that holds
the largest # of seats
®
Executive and legislature tightly connected (less checks
and balances)
®
□
Public doesn’t directly elect leader, the parties do□
Unfixed term for prime ministers… as long as they are
supported, they will lead
□
Prime ministers can be removed easily through vote of no
confidence
Vote of no confidence: vote taken by a legislature as to
whether its members continue to support the current
prime minister; depending on the country, a vote of no
confidence can force the resignation of the prime
minister and/or lead to new parliamentary elections
®
□
Prime ministers also hold the right to call elections□
§
Overwhelming majority of power is with the prime minister (head of
government)
Prime minister drives legislation and policy way more than
judiciaries and legislatures
□
Checks and balances in parliamentary systems depends on
where the concentration of power lies
□
§
Head of state can be either a president or monarch
President = elected either directly by public or indirectly by
legislature
□
Monarch = inherited position□
Have reserve powers that are rarely exercised
Ability to reject legislation or send it to constitutional
courts
®
□
§
○
Presidential Systems: a political system in which the roles of head of state
and head of government are combined in one executive office
Make u minority of world's democratic systems
§
President directly elected by the public for a fixed term
Election dates not altered easily□
President and legislatives serve terms between 4 and 7 years□
Public opinion doesn’t really matter in the removal of a
president (no such thing as vote of no confidence)
□
§
President has control over cabinet and legislative process
§
President is both head of state and head of government
Oversees policy and acts as a national symbol□
§
Presidents power is not directly beholden to legislature
Neither branch can easily remove the other□
Very strong separation of powers, divided government, and
checks and balances
□
§
○
Semi-Presidential Systems
Hybrid btwn parliamentary and presidential systems
§
Power is divided btwn head of state and head of government
Both a prime minister and a president exercise power□
§
Presidents still have fixed terms
§
Prime ministers are subject to public confidence and legislative
success
§
How power is divided depends on the country
§
President helps set policy, manages foreign policy
§
Prime minister executes policy
§
○
•
CH 6 Notes: Democratic Regimes
Monday, May 7, 2018
12:44 PM
EMAILED QUESTIONS
What is democracy and where does it come from?1)
What are the institutions of the democratic state? How do they vary across
countries?
2)
Which democratic system do you think is best? (E.g. presidential vs.
parliamentary, bicameral vs. unicameral, federal vs. unitary, etc.)
3)
Defining Democracy
Greek etymology: demos = "the common people", kratia = "power/rule"
○
Democracy: a political system in which political power is exercised either
directly or indirectly by the people
Exercise of power takes three forms
Participation: voting and elections□
Competition: between political parties□
Liberty: freedom of speech, assembly, etc.□
§
○
Liberal democracy: a political system that promotes participation,
competition, and liberty, and emphasizes individual freedom and civil
rights
Rooted in the ideology of liberalism
§
○
•
Origins of Democracy
Liberal democracy originates from ancient Greece and Rome
○
Greek democracies provided the foundation for public participation
Allowed a strict membership of the public to make governing
decisions
§
This made the people the state, because they directly chose policies
§
Idea of popular sovereignty
§
○
Roman Empire brought about republicanism
Republicanism: indirect democracy that emphasizes the separation
of powers within a state and the representation of the public
through elected officials
Separation of powers: the clear division of power among
different branches of government and the provision that
specific branches may check the power of other branches
Opposed to direct participation of the people and
uncontrolled power of monarchs
®
□
§
Influenced creation of legislative bodies like the senate
§
○
Two Forms of Democracy
Direct Democracy: public participated directly in governance and
policy making; historically found in small communities such as
ancient Athens
§
Indirect Democracy: public participates indirectly thru its elected
representatives; the prevalent form of democracy in the modern
age
§
○
Magna Carta
Document that curbed the rights of the king and laid the foundation
for an early form of legislature
§
Key to republicanism
§
Asserted that all free men should have due process before the law
Present idea of liberty
□
§
Presented the idea that no individual, including the king, was above
the law
§
Clear separation of power in England facilitated individual freedom
§
○
•
Modernization and Democratization
Theory that democratization is caused by modernization
○
Look back to the modernization theory and behavioral revolution
○
Modernization = better education, greater equality, economic prosperity,
etc.
○
Modernization theory suggests that as societies become better educated
and more economically sophisticated, they need greater control over the
state
○
Modernization became irrelevant to democracy 1970s
Held that wealth and economic development were critical to the
survival of any democracy
§
○
•
Elites and Democratization
Scholars who turned away from modernization theory concentrated on
the strategies of political elites
○
The modernization theory centered on the idea that a middle class was
necessary for democratization and that overall poverty can obstruct
democracy
○
Distribution of wealth was significant
Political change is unlikely if power is concentrated in the hands of
few
§
○
Wealth is not static, and the resources providing wealth will inevitably
change
○
•
Society and Democratization
Importance of society's political power
○
Civil society: organizations outside of the state that help people define
and advance their own interests
"art of association"
§
○
Civil society = many organizations (not only political) created by people to
help define their own interests
Serve as a vehicle for democratization by allowing people to
support what's important to them
§
○
Democratization is more likely with civil society because it allows for
small-scale political mobilization and ideas to spread
○
Powerful incentive for democratic change
○
•
International Relations and Democratization
Foreign investment, globalization, and trade may progress
democratization due to their modernizing qualities
○
Elites may be pushed to favor democracy (international pressure or
incentives)
○
International education and media may strengthen civil society
○
International influence depends on how much contact a country may
have with the rest of the world (e.g. North Korea isolation)
○
•
Culture and Democratization
Political culture influences relationships between freedom and equality
○
The idea that Western democracy gave way to modernity and not the
other way around
If this is true, then farther from the West means less democracy
§
Difficult to test and very stereotypical
§
○
Political culture can shape the character of democracy in a given country
○
•
Many reasons why a country may be democratized
All of these factors play some sort of role in each case of democratization
○
Modernization sets the stage for political activity
○
Civil society = expression of political activity
○
Elites can be influenced in many ways
○
Culture can encourage certain ideas either for or against democracy
○
•
Institutions of the Democratic State
Executives, Legislatures, Judiciaries
○
Executives: Head of State and Head of Government
Executive: the branch of govt. that carries out the laws and policies
of a state
§
Two distinct executive roles
Head of state: the executive role that symbolizes and
represents the people both nationally and internationally
Embodies/articulates the goals of the regime
®
Conducts foreign policy
®
Wages war
®
May be a monarch or president (president has fixed
term)
®
□
Head of government: the executive role that deals with the
everyday tasks of running the state, such as formulating and
executing policy
Has a cabinet of ministers who run specific policy areas
(e.g. education and agriculture)
®
Usually referred to as prime ministers: they serve as the
main executive over other ministers in their cabinet
(prime minister has unfixed term)
®
□
IN THE USA, roles are COMBINED… president is both head of
state and head of government
□
§
○
Legislatures: Unicameral and Bicameral
Legislature: the branch of govt. charged with making laws
Lots of power over the executive□
Prime engine of policy/legislation□
§
Bicameral system: a political system in which the legislature
comprises two houses
Goes back to feudal England□
Upper house checks the lower house to ensure that they
don't make rash emotional/passionate decisions
□
Upper houses can amend or veto legislation that came from
the lower house
However, upper houses are generally weaker than
lower houses
®
□
Tenure: Members of upper house serve longer than lower
house
□
Characterizes majority of liberal democracies□
Federal states rely on upper house to represent local interests
Members want to oversee legislation
®
□
§
Unicameral system: a political system in which the legislature
comprises one house
Characterizes smaller countries□
§
○
Judiciaries and Judicial Review
Constitution = fundamental expression of the regime and
justification for its legislation + the power of
executives/legislatures/other political actors
§
Rule of law: a system in which all individuals and groups, including
those in govt., are subjected to the law, irrespective of their power
or authority
Law is sovereign over all people□
Judicial institutions uphold this law□
§
Judiciaries vary because laws are interpreted and reviewed in
different ways
§
Constitutional court: the highest judicial body in a political system
that decides whether laws and policies violate the constitution
§
Judicial review: the mechanism by which courts can review the
actions of the govt. and overturn those that violate the constitution
As constitutions define more rights, there is greater need for
judiciaries to rule on them
□
§
In some countries judicial review is implicitly institutionalized, and
in some it is written in the constitution
§
Different forms of judicial review
Concrete review: judicial review that allows the constitutional
court to rule on the basis of actual legal disputes brought
before it
□
Abstract review: judicial review that allows the constitutional
court to rule on questions that don't arise from actual legal
disputes
□
§
Courts differ in the timing of their review
Some review only after legislation is passed□
Some review before□
§
Courts differ in the appointment/tenure of their judges
Typically fixed terms (e.g. lifetime tenure of U.S. Supreme
Court Judges)
□
§
○
•
Models of Democracy: Parliamentary, Presidential, and Semi-Presidential
Systems
Parliamentary System: a political system in which the roles of head of
state and head of govt. are assigned to separate executive offices
Prime ministers and their cabinets come out of the legislature
Cabinet = other ministers who make up the govt.□
The legislature is also the instrument that elects and removes
the prime minister from office
Prime minster is the head of the lower house that holds
the largest # of seats
®
Executive and legislature tightly connected (less checks
and balances)
®
□
Public doesn’t directly elect leader, the parties do□
Unfixed term for prime ministers… as long as they are
supported, they will lead
□
Prime ministers can be removed easily through vote of no
confidence
Vote of no confidence: vote taken by a legislature as to
whether its members continue to support the current
prime minister; depending on the country, a vote of no
confidence can force the resignation of the prime
minister and/or lead to new parliamentary elections
®
□
Prime ministers also hold the right to call elections□
§
Overwhelming majority of power is with the prime minister (head of
government)
Prime minister drives legislation and policy way more than
judiciaries and legislatures
□
Checks and balances in parliamentary systems depends on
where the concentration of power lies
□
§
Head of state can be either a president or monarch
President = elected either directly by public or indirectly by
legislature
□
Monarch = inherited position□
Have reserve powers that are rarely exercised
Ability to reject legislation or send it to constitutional
courts
®
□
§
○
Presidential Systems: a political system in which the roles of head of state
and head of government are combined in one executive office
Make u minority of world's democratic systems
§
President directly elected by the public for a fixed term
Election dates not altered easily□
President and legislatives serve terms between 4 and 7 years□
Public opinion doesn’t really matter in the removal of a
president (no such thing as vote of no confidence)
□
§
President has control over cabinet and legislative process
§
President is both head of state and head of government
Oversees policy and acts as a national symbol□
§
Presidents power is not directly beholden to legislature
Neither branch can easily remove the other□
Very strong separation of powers, divided government, and
checks and balances
□
§
○
Semi-Presidential Systems
Hybrid btwn parliamentary and presidential systems
§
Power is divided btwn head of state and head of government
Both a prime minister and a president exercise power□
§
Presidents still have fixed terms
§
Prime ministers are subject to public confidence and legislative
success
§
How power is divided depends on the country
§
President helps set policy, manages foreign policy
§
Prime minister executes policy
§
○
•
CH 6 Notes: Democratic Regimes
Monday, May 7, 2018 12:44 PM
