Chapter 4: The Fall and Reluctant Rise of Democracy

Chapter Summary   Self-Study Questions   Something to Consider   Key Terms   Resources

 

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Perhaps the dominant political value of our time, “democracy” is also one of the most frequently misemployed terms of modern political discourse. Unique to this period, democracy is regarded as the principal criterion of legitimacy—a state that is democratic is most of the way home so far as being regarded as legitimate (it needs to satisfy some fundamental notions of justice as well). A state that is not democratic is automatically disqualified from the club of “good states,” and to call a government undemocratic is one of the most serious charges that can be made. This contemporary state of affairs belies a history in which democracy was mostly regarded with suspicion, if not outright alarm, by rulers, thinkers, and even a good measure of the population itself. This chapter examines that history, as well as the concept itself, with a more critical view, starting with the simple question, “What exactly is democracy?” As it turns out, there are various types or degrees of democracy, from representative democracy to direct democracy to participatory democracy, and there is an important distinction between electoral democracy and liberal democracy. The weaknesses of some not uncommon ideas—that democracy is majority rule, or that holding elections is sufficient to create democracy—are also examined. The considerable challenges that must be overcome if democracy is to be strengthened are considered, as well as the challenges of measuring and counting democratic regimes. The chapter concludes with a table of regimes ranked according to their scores with respect to political rights and civil freedoms, as these two categories were measured by the organization Freedom House in its 2011 Report.

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SELF-STUDY QUESTIONS
Multiple Choice

(Answer key below)

1. Which of the following describes the aggregate of beliefs within a society about the political world?

a. Ideology
b. Community profile
c. Political culture
d. Culture of ideas

2. Which of the following is NOT commonly identified as a barrier to citizen participation?

a. Institutional barriers
b. Cultural barriers
c. Concrete barriers
d. None of the above

3. Which of the following best describes a free vote?

a. A vote for which you don’t have to pay a participation fee
b. A vote which does not subject voters to party discipline
c. A vote to determine which public services should not involve user fees
d. None of the above

4. Which of the following theorists is associated with the principle of representative autonomy?

a. Mill
b. Rousseau
c. Bentham
d. Burke

5. Who can be credited as the first philosopher to endorse democracy?

a. Aristotle
b. Spinoza
c. Hobbes
d. Machiavelli

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Short Answer

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SOMETHING TO CONSIDER

1. The entitlement to vote has been described as a right, a privilege, or a duty—does it matter which? Often the implication is that this entitlement places certain obligations on citizens; are there obligations that it should put on the state/government?

2. Should citizens in democracies be trained to participate in politics?

3. Does the emphasis on civil and political freedoms (i.e., liberal democracy) reflect a “Western” bias towards one type of democracy, or is it recognition of the full range of conditions necessary to make democracy work?

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KEY TERMS

(Click term to reveal definition)

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RESOURCES
Chapter References

Diamond, Larry. Developing Democracy: Towards Consolidation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Larry Diamond’s papers

Huntington, Samuel P. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. Electronic copy of Huntington’s essay “The Clash of Civilizations?”

Mill, James. An Essay on Government. Ed. Currin Shields. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1955. Electronic Copy

Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism, On Liberty, and Considerations on Representative Government. Ed. H. B. Acton. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1972. Electronic copies: UtilitarianismOn Libertyand Considerations on Representative Government

Pateman, Carol. Participation and Democratic Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York: Viking, 1985.
See Foreword to Amusing Ourselves and Neil Postman’s website

Schmitter, Philippe C., and Terry Lynn Karl. “What Democracy Is . . . and Is Not,” Journal of Democracy (Summer 1991): 75–88. Electronic Copy

Ward, Lee. “Benedict Spinoza on the Naturalness of Democracy,” Canadian Political Science Review 5.1 (January 2011): 55–73. Electronic Copy

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Further Readings

Boix, Carles. “The Roots of Democracy,” in Policy Review, February and March, 2006. Electronic Copy

Coppedge, Michael, and John Gerring, with David Altman et al. “Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: A New Approach.” Perspectives on Politics. 9.2 (June 2011): 247–267. Electronic Copy

Dahl, Robert A. “What Political Institutions Does Large-Scale Democracy Require?” Political Science Quarterly. 120.2 (Summer 2005): 187–197. Electronic Copy

Huntington, Samuel P. “How Countries Democratize.” Political Science Quarterly. 124.1 (Spring 2009): 31–69. [Originally published in the Winter 1991 issue of the Quarterly.] Electronic Copy

O’Flynn, Ian. “Deliberative Democracy, the Public Interest and the Consociational Model.” Political Studies. 58.3 (June 2010): 572–589. Get Abstract

Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994.

Schmitter , Philippe C. “Re-presenting Representation.” Government and Opposition. 44.4 (October 2009): 476–490. Get AbstractP. C. Schmitter homepage

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Other Resources

Watch YouTube interview with Robert Dahl

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)

Freedom House

Democracy Web

Democracies 2011

 

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