chapter 22: comparative political systems section 3

Chapter 22: Comparative Political Systems

Section 3

Chapter 22: Comparative Political Systems

Section 3

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 2Chapter 22, Section 3

ObjectivesObjectives

1. Understand how regimes can change from dictatorship to democracy.

2. Describe the fall of the Soviet Union.

3. Explain the factors necessary for democratic consolidation to take place.

4. Analyze why some countries experience setbacks or failed transitions to democracy.


Key TermsKey Terms

• hard-liners: those who fight to maintain the status quo

• soft-liners: those who want to reform the policies of the current government

• democratization: the change from dictatorship to democracy

• democratic consolidation: a process that occurs as a country firmly establishes factors needed to sustain a democracy


Key Terms, cont.Key Terms, cont.

• genocide: the attempted extermination of a cultural, racial, or national group

• failed states: governments that have little control over large sections of their own territory and which face severe economic, educational, health, and security challenges


IntroductionIntroduction

• How successfully have some nations achieved democratic government?

– Some countries like Russia achieved formal democracy, but retain some aspects of dictatorships.

– Other countries, such as Iraq, are just beginning to develop democratic systems.

– A large group of countries, like Somalia, have tried but failed to create working democracies, leading to failed states.


Openings for DemocracyOpenings for Democracy

• Democracies tend to emerge in waves across the world and the number of democracies has increased over time.

• Many democracies replace failed dictatorships, which have limited basic rights.– People living under dictatorships may question why they

do not enjoy the freedoms of people living in democracies.– Internal splits between hard-liners and soft-liners can also

divide a dictatorship. – Individual reformers like Lech Walesa in Poland and

Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia have also helped bring about democratic changes.


Fall of the Soviet UnionFall of the Soviet Union

• The fall of the Soviet Union was the result of a series of events, including:– The fall of the Berlin

Wall that divided East and West Germany

– The collapse of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe


Fall of the Soviet Union, cont.Fall of the Soviet Union, cont.

• Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was a reformer in the 1980s.– His perestroika policy restructured Soviet political and

economic life, while glasnost allowed more freedom of expression.

• The USSR fell apart in 1991 after Boris Yeltsin became president of Russia and challenged a military coup by hard-liners.

• Russia created a new constitution that set up a democratic republic with protections for individual rights.


Independent RussiaIndependent Russia

• Vladimir Putin (below, far right) became Russian president in 1999. He limited civil liberties, gave the presidency more power, won questionable elections, and picked his own successor in 2007.

• Russia’s economy has improved, but it may once again be a dictatorship.


Democratic ConsolidationDemocratic Consolidation

• Checkpoint: What is democratic consolidation?

– Democratic consolidation is the process by which a country establishes a sense of common trust among its citizens, which enables them to support a long-term democracy.

– Key factors include the creation of a free press, a multiparty system, a fair economic system, and a professional civil service, as well as establishing civilian control of the military.


HaitiHaiti

• The process of democratization in the Caribbean nation of Haiti has been difficult.

• The Duvalier dictatorship ended with the election of President Aristide in 1990, but after being overthrown and returning to power, he became a dictator himself.

• Currently Haiti is ruled by a provisional government and a UN peacekeeping force. The country suffers widespread poverty and lawlessness.


IraqIraq

• The United States overthrew Iraq’s dictatorship in 2003 and has since faced great challenges trying to establish a democracy there.– There are few democratic or cultural traditions to unify

Iraq’s Shia and Sunni religious groups and its ethnic Kurds.

• In 2005, Iraqis did elect a parliament that drafted a democratic constitution approved by the people.


Divisions in IraqDivisions in Iraq

• A large majority of Iraq’s inhabitants are Muslim, but they adhere to different forms of Islam, belong to many different ethnic groups, and speak different languages.– How can religious and

linguistic divides pose challenges for a new democracy?


SetbacksSetbacks

• Some countries attempt democracy and fail, becoming threats to other countries.

• Ethnic violence erupted when the country of Yugoslavia broke apart in the late 1980s.– Bosnia-Herzegovina was attacked by Serbia

and Croatia and nearly 200,000 civilians suffered genocide before NATO stepped in to stop the fighting.


Failed StatesFailed States

• Countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, and Somalia cannot control large parts their own territory.

• In such failed states, the economy struggles and the government provides little security, healthcare, or education for the people.

• International terrorist groups have found refuge in failed states.– Al Qaeda set up bases in Afghanistan from which

they struck at the United States in 2001.


ReviewReview

• Now that you have learned about how successfully some nations have achieved democratic government, go back and answer the Chapter Essential Question.– How should you measure different

governments?

chapter 22: comparative political systems section 3

Documents

soviet unionthe

failed dictatorships

democratic republic

democratic systems

democratic government

democratic changes

failed transitions

president of russia