intro to democracy 2008

7/30/2019 Intro to Democracy 2008

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Democracy, Part IDefinitions and Directions


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Defining Democracy:

Your own ideasWhat are theessential

characteristics ofdemocracy?


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Sources:

Robert Dahl, Polyarchy(1971) and On Democracy(1998)

Samuel Huntington, The Third Wave: Democratization in

the late Twentieth Century(1991) Arend Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy(1999)

Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of DemocraticTransition and Consolidation(1996)

Freedom Housewww.freedomhouse.org The Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index
http://www.freedomhouse.org/http://www.freedomhouse.org/


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General Point #1:Democracy is getting

more popular

1900 no democracies (by standard of

universal suffrage for competitivemultiparty elections).

1950 22 democracies

2002 121/192 countries classified aselectoral democracies.


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Map of worlds political systems,

1900

L. blue=limited democracy pink=absolute monarchy;purple=constitutional monarchy gray & green =colonial authorityorange=empire


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Map of worlds political systems,

2000

Dark Blue=democracy; light blue=limited democracy; yellow=authoritarian regime; red=totalitarian;purple=hereditary monarchy


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The Economist Intelligence Units Democracy Index 2007:the lighter the color, the more democratic the place


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Caveats:

Not all democracies are equally free

89 Free countries

55 Partly Freecountries

48 Not Free countries(Source: Freedom

House, 2003)


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General Point #2:Mass democracy is

modernDistinctions between earlier

and later democracies:

1. direct democracy (vselected representatives)

2. exclusion (vs inclusion)

3. civil and political rights?

Greek voters, picture from National

Geographic, 1944


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Ways of Defining Democracy

what it SHOULD be (normative)

(government by, of, for the people)

institutional characteristics -- by itsPROCEDURES (approach favored by CP)


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What is a democracy?

One basic definition:

A system in which the most powerfuldecisionmakers are selected through fairand periodic voting procedures in whichcandidates freely compete for votes, and

in which virtually all people have the rightto vote.

(Samuel Huntington)


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But is this enough?8 essential components of a full

(liberal) democracy: the right to vote the right to be elected/eligibility for public office

the right of political leaders to compete for supportand votes free and fair elections freedom of association freedom of expression alternative sources of information institutions that make government policies actually

depend on votes and other forms of (voter) preference

(Robert Dahl)


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Levels of democracy (based on

degrees of democracy): Full (liberal)

democracy

Electoral democracy,semi-democracy,pseudo-democracy,

Illiberal democracy


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Democracy, Part II:

Institutional Variations

The 80s Kids: Fromleft to right, MargaretThatcher, RonaldReagan, Francois

Mitterand, HelmutSchmidt. Source:http://www.digischool.nl/kleioscoop/mitterand.htm


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Variation #1:degree of territorial & political

centralization

Federal System vsUnitary System


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Federal system:

Decentralized authority

sovereignty constitutionally split between

at least two territorial levels units at each level can act independently

of the others in some areas.

Citizens have political obligations to two(or more) authorities

Examples: U.S., Canada, Germany


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Unitary System:

Authority & sovereignty centralized in oneplace (the capital)

Policies largely set by the center No (or weak) intermediary layer between

local and central government

Local govt subservient to central govt Examples: Turkey, France, Britain


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What are the pros and cons of

federal and unitary systems?


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Variation #2:Powers and processes of

leadershipPresidential VS parliamentary

systems


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a. Title & power of head of state

Presidential system:

head of govt always called the president is

elected for a prescribed period and generally cannotbe dismissed unless guilty of severe wrongdoing.

Parliamentary system:

head of the government usually (but not always)

called the Prime Minister. His/her cabinet responsibleto the legislature (Parliament); can be dismissed

through a vote of no confidence.


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b. How head of state is chosen

In Presidential System, presidents are

popularly elected by populace

In a Parliamentary system, head of state(president) selected by the legislature. Head of government (prime minister) usually

is the leader of the ruling party.


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How the people voted in Chiapas


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c. Status of the head of state

In a presidential system, president

appoints the cabinet and they are

considered subservient to him.

In a parliamentary system, the prime

minister serves as one among equals


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d. selection of the cabinet

In Presidential system, cabinet appointedseparately by president

In a Parliamentary system, cabinet drawnin part from legislature


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e. Length of term in office

In a presidential system, legislators andpresidents serve fixed terms

In a parliamentary system, legislators andpresidents serve a maximum time in office

but a ruling party can call early elections ifit wants to


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Notes:

it is common in parliamentary systems to have apresident or monarch who is the CEREMONIALhead of state, and a PM who is in charge of the

government Examples of Parliamentary systems: Britain,

Turkey, South Africa, Germany

Examples of Presidential systems: U.S., most ofSouth America

Many countries have mixed systems, i.e.France


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Turkeychief of state:President AbdullahGul

head of government:PrimeMinister Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN(since 14 March 2003)

cabinet:Nominated by PrimeMinister, confirmed by President

elections:prime minister selectedfrom majority party, confirmed bypresident . President elected by

parliament.Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, 2003

Examples: Presidential orParliamentary?


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Example: Brazil

chief of state:PresidentLuiz Inacio LULA DASILVA (since 1 January

2003) note - the president is

both the chief of stateand head of government

elections:president andvice president elected onthe same ticket bypopular vote for four-yearterms


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United Kingdom chief of state: Queen

ELIZABETH II

head of government:Prime Minister Gordon

Brown cabinet: Cabinet of

Ministers appointed bythe prime minister

elections: monarchy is

hereditary; followinglegislative elections, theleader of the majorityparty or the leader of themajority coalition is

usually the prime minister

Gordon Brown, British PM (photofrom the Birmingham Post)


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parliamentary system:

pros and cons? + Strengthens parties

over individuals

+ Encourages policy-based voting ratherthan voting based onindividual charisma or$$

+ Fusing of legislative& exec. branches canpromote efficiency

- Gives the public lesschoice over leadership

- Flexible electionterms can = lessstability

- Fusing of executive

& legislative branchescan concentrate toomuch power in oneplace


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Presidential system:

pros and cons? + Gives the people more

choice over leadership

+ strong government-

president more insulatedand can act with daring

+ higher levels ofgovernmentaccountability

+ Greater stability

+ Clear separation ofpowers

- Power of presidency canbe abused

- Can encourage deadlock

between legislature &executive

- Encourages charisma,$$, rather than substance& policies

- Set terms= rigidity (badleaders cant be easilyremoved)


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Institutional variation #3:

Electoral systems

(how voting works:

who gets elected, and how)


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Electoral systems: 2 main types

1- Plurality System (Winner-take-all system) Single member districts; whoever gets the most votes

wins the seat

used by about 54% of worlds countries

2- Proportional Representation (PR system) Multi-member districts; # of reps. determined by %

of vote

Used by about 35% of worlds countries, by most ofwestern Europe


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Plurality Systems

Single-member electoral districts (usually)

Also called winner-take-all

Simplest & most common form: First Past thePost : winning candidate is the one who gainsmore votes than any other candidate, but notnecessarily a majority of votes.

Alternative: Ranked Choice/Instant Runoff Voting Encourages 2-party systems

Examples: U.S., U.K, Canada, Rwanda


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Proportional Representation(PR)

Multi-member electoral districts Seats in legislature divided by % of votes.

Most common type: List system: parties selectcandidates, who goes to legislature depends on

what % that party gets preferential voting- voters rank preferences

on party list

encourages multi-party system

Min. threshold (barrier): parties have to get acertain % of votes to enter legislature

Examples: Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Norway,Turkey, Brazil


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Sample ballot

from Sonoma Co.,USA (Pluralitysystem)


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Sample ballot

from S. Africasnationalelections, 1994(PR system)Source: aceproject.org

Example: Turkey


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Example: TurkeyHow power is distributed

Central government Sets rules & policies

Appoints officials

Government spending

In Turkey, 15% offunds to localgovernment

In Europe, 50%

Municipal funding base

In Turkey, 75% of cityrevenue from centralgovt.

National Government

(Ankara)

81 Provinces

(centrally appointed

governor)

3, 215 Municipalities

(elected mayor & municipal councils)

35,000 villages

Investment plans

Road maintenance

Social & cultural

services

Caring for cemeteries

waste disposal


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Turkey: Top leadership

Prime Minister (usually) from majority party Officially appointed by the President of

the Republic from among themembers of the Turkish GrandNational Assembly.

(cabinet) ministers nominated by the

Prime Minister and appointed by theTurkish Grand National Assembly The Prime Minister, as Chairman of the

Council of Ministers, shall ensurecooperation among the ministers, andsupervise the implementation ofthe governments general policy.

The members of the Council of Ministersare jointly responsible for theimplementation of this policy.


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The PMs duties:

1)To provide cooperation among ministries, to supervise the execution

of government general policy, to take necessary measures with a view toproviding public services as listed in the constitution and laws,

To develop the principles required for an efficient administration of state affairs, tosupervise the implementation of the government program as well as thedevelopment of annual plans,

3) To examine acts, regulations and recommendations on decisions in terms ofcompliance with the constitution and other regulations, and to maintain relations with

the legislation organ, 4) To set and improve the principles on the preparation of regulations, to ensure

the codification and publication of active regulations,

5) To provide efficiency in administration, simplification of administrativeprocesses and procedures, to follow developments in state organization systems,

6) To set principles for a more efficient system of supervision and inspection in thestate organization, and to carry out supervision and inspection if deemed necessary,

7) To collect, evaluate and regulate important documents for Turkish Nation and State,

to set up archive laboratories, to present archive documents to scientists and scientificactivities,

8) To take necessary measures for an efficient crisis management at the time ofnatural disasters, migration and other important events threatening national security,and to ensure efficient coordination among public establishments in the crisismanagement.

Source: http://www.basbakanlik.gov.tr


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Turkey: The president

ARTICLE 101.The President of the Republic shall be elected for a

term of office of seven years by the TurkishGrand National Assembly from among itsown members who are over 40 years of age andwho have completed their higher education orfrom among Turkish citizens who fulfill these

requirements and are eligible to be deputies.

The President-elect, if a member of a party, shallsever his relations with his party and his status asa member of the Turkish Grand National Assemblyshall cease.

ARTICLE 102. The President of the Republic shallbe elected by a two-thirds majority of the totalnumber of members of the Turkish Grand NationalAssembly and by secret ballot.

http://www.abdullahgul.gen.tr/EN/Video.asp


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Turkey: How Votes are Counted

550 seats in Parliament

85 electoral districts

Districts have from 2-26

representatives in theParliament

PR List System (ClosedList)

10 percent threshhold


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Who won which provinces in Turkey,


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p y,2002 and 2007 compared

France


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France 577 deputies in the National Assembly

577 legislative districts

single-district, plurality system (2 rounds of voting) Candidates that win more than 50% in the first round win seat

If no one does, 2nd round: the candidate that wins the mostvotes wins the seat


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Pros & Cons of Plurality Systems:

+ gives voters clearchoice

+ maintains closegeographic linkbetween voters andelected officials

+ creates effectivegovernment -- clearmajority party andunified opposition

- Not veryrepresentative; many

votes wasted

- Excludes smaller &minority parties fromrepresentation


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Pros & Cons of PR systems:

+ highlyrepresentative: all ornearly all votes

count

+ encouragesdiversity & range of

perspectives + Greater voter

turnout

- Can lead tofragmentation &ineffective govt.

-List PR, inparticular, canweaken link betweenvoters & elected

officials (officials moreloyal to party thanvoters)


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Note:Many countries used mixed-PR systems: some sort ofmixture between plurality &

PR systems!


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Examples: Mexico

500-person Chamber of Deputies

Elections every three years

Parallel voting: 300 deputies elected in single-seat constituencies by first-past-the-postplurality

Other 200 elected through PR voting with open-

party lists country is divided into 5 constituencies

intro to democracy 2008

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