Chapter 8

Comparative Politics IGovernmental Systems:

Democracy and Nondemocracy

Comparative PoliticsThe study of how governments, political groups, political

procedures, and citizenship vary across countries or time periods.

Democracy and Nondemocracy

Spectrum of Government Power• Perfect democracy

- Power in hands of the people

• Democracy• Limited democracy• Authoritarianism• Totalitarianism• Perfect totalitarianism

- All power held by government

Democracy

• From the Greek demokratía- demos = “people”- kratía = “government”

• Democracy does not always equal freedom. • Democracy needs

• Thoughtful citizens• Limits on power• Rule of law• Human and civil rights

Democracy:Definition and Presuppositions

• Participatory Democracy• People free to participate

• Pluralist Democracy• All people free to

participate

• Developmental Democracy• People aware of their

role in process

• Protective Democracy• Government not

tyrannical and oppressive

• Performance Democracy• Governmental outputs

reflective of the people’s desires

Democracy• “True” democracy

• A system in which all citizens meet periodically to elect officials and personally enact laws.

Representative democracy– One in which the people do not rule directly

but through elected and accountable representatives.

Elements of Democracy• Popular accountability of government• Political competition• Alternation in power• Popular representation• Majority decision• Right of dissent and

disobedience• Political equality• Popular consultation• Free press

Democracy in Practice

• Even if all the democratic criteria are met, political power will still not be evenly distributed• Few will have a lot• And many will have

little

Elites• The “top” or most

influential people• Those who govern• Elites make the actual decisions, and

ordinary citizens generally go along with these decisions

• Key dispute:• How much elites are accountable to masses. • Elite theorists vs. pluralists

The Models

Nondemocracy:Definition and Characteristics

• Antiparticipatory• Governments deny

freedom of participation by the people.

• May suppress various groups

• May produce laws and policies not reflective of the peoples’ desires

• Diverse in Leadership• Family leadership• Party leadership• Military leadership• Individual leadership

• Unclear lines of succession

Totalitarianism

• All-encompassing ideology

• A single party• Organized terror• Monopoly of communications• Monopoly of weapons• Controlled economy

Right-Wing Totalitarianism

• Aims to strengthen the existing social order and to glorify the state.

• Citizens directed toward national glory and war

Authoritarianism

• Diluted totalitarianism• Governed by small group• Does not attempt to control everything• Rarely has firm ideology to sell• Institutes command, obedience, order• Has strict, hierarchical chain-of-command• Allows little to no voice for citizens• Has some trappings of democracy, with little

function

Latest Wave of Democracy• Authoritarian regimes that enjoyed

strong economic growth• Chile, South Korea, Taiwan

• Why?• Middle class grows

• Have stake in system• Want modification, not collapse of system

• Education levels rise• Pluralism – citizens express interests• Market teaches attitudes of democracy

China’s 1989 student protest in Tiananmen Square

Latest Wave of Democracy• Collapsed Communist regimes

whose economic growth lagged

• Why?• Poor economic growth• Hard to reform totalitarian

systems• System can’t bend• If they admit system needs

changing, they admit that the ideology was wrong, etc.

Theory of Democratic Peace• No two

democracies have ever fought each other.

• If true, a more democratic world means a more peaceful world.