scholarly journals Freedom House

2011 ◽  
pp. 74-74
Author(s):  
Barry Turner
Keyword(s):  
Freedom House

Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia McClintock
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Electoral Rules ◽  
New Parties ◽  
Political Exclusion ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
Freedom House

During Latin America’s third democratic wave, a majority of countries adopted a runoff rule for the election of the president. This book is the first rigorous assessment of the implications of runoff versus plurality for democracy in the region. Despite previous scholarly skepticism about runoff, it has been positive for Latin America, and could be for the United States also. Primarily through qualitative analysis for each Latin American country, I explore why runoff is superior to plurality. Runoff opens the political arena to new parties but at the same time ensures that the president does not suffer a legitimacy deficit and is not at an ideological extreme. By contrast, in a region in which undemocratic political parties are common, the continuation of these parties is abetted by plurality; political exclusion provoked disillusionment and facilitated the emergence of presidents at ideological extremes. In regression analysis, runoff was statistically significant to superior levels of democracy. Between 1990 and 2016, Freedom House and Varieties of Democracy scores plummeted in countries with plurality but improved in countries with runoff. Plurality advocates’ primary concern is the larger number of political parties under runoff. Although a larger number of parties was not significant to inferior levels of democracy, a plethora of parties is problematic, leading to a paucity of legislative majorities and inchoate parties. To ameliorate the problem, I recommend not reductions in the 50% threshold but the scheduling of the legislative election after the first round or thresholds for entry into the legislature.

Historicizing the comparative survey of freedom: tracing the social trajectory of an influential indicator

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-144
Author(s):  
Emily Zerndt
Keyword(s):  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Social ◽  
Retrospective Account ◽  
Comparative Survey ◽  
Policy Decision Making ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Freedom House

ArgumentThe Comparative Survey of Freedom, first published by Freedom House in 1973, is now the most widely used indicator of democracy by both academics and the U.S. government alike. However, literature examining the Survey’s origins is virtually nonexistent. In this article, I use archival records to challenge Freedom House’s retrospective account of the indicator’s creation. Rather than the outcome of a scientific methodology by multiple social scientists, the Survey was produced by a single political scientist, Raymond Gastil, according to his own hunches and impressions. How, then, did this indicator rise to such prominence? I argue that the Survey’s notoriety can be attributed to its early promotion in both political science and American foreign policy decision-making, as well as the fact that it fit the dominant scientific and political paradigms of the time.

The securitization of democracy: Freedom House ratings of Russia

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei P. Tsygankov ◽  
David Parker
Keyword(s):  
Freedom House

scholarly journals Consequences of the Totalitarian past on the Albanian Post- Communist Society

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 181
Author(s):  
Matilda Pajo
Keyword(s):  
Annual Reports ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Qualitative Nature ◽  
Communist Past ◽  
Totalitarian Regimes ◽  
Hybrid Regime ◽  
Freedom House

Enver Hoxha's communist regime lasted 45 years, leaving unstudied long-term consequences in the Albanian society. Still today, after 26 years of transition, the path of democratization of Albania remains unclear. Albania has been for more than four decades under one of the most isolated communist regimes in Europe. The transition from a communist totalitarian state to a democratic state is still incomplete even after 26 years since the fall of communism. Annual reports carried out by Freedom House noted a delay in the processes of democratic governance in Albania. In these reports, since 2007, based on the democratic indicators, Albania is defined as e hybrid regime. The aim of this paper is to argue that one of the reasons delaying democratization is the missing detachment, or the non-separation from the mentality of communist past. The methodology of this paper is qualitative nature, based on the international philosophical and political science literature. Also the author has studied countries, who have had similar experiences of totalitarian regimes and who later embraced democracy. This paper attempts to explain, that the bad governance is linked to the anti-democratic character of governance in Albania. Throughout Eastern Europe, Albania was the most radical, on the adaptation of Stalinist totalitarianism type, and nevertheless still today, is not seeking punishment of crimes of communism and has not implemented a law on lustration. The past can become an obstacle to the future when is not studied, recognized and confronted with.

scholarly journals Media system of Azerbaijan: current state and problems

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Serhiy Danylenko ◽  
Maryna Grynchuk
Keyword(s):  
Media System ◽  
Current State ◽  
Freedom House

W artykule omówiono uwarunkowania tworzenia i funkcjonowania mediów w Azerbejdżanie oraz prawne aspekty ich działalności. Szczególną uwagę poświęcono badaniom nad telewizją, mediami drukowanymi, radiem, mediami internetowymi, agencjami informacyjnymi itp. Przeanalizowano i wyróżniono kluczowe kanały masowego przekazu w Azerbejdżanie i specyfikę ich działania. Przedstawiono akty prawne, regulujące rynek medialny w Azerbejdżanie, w szczególności ustawę Republiki Azerbejdżanu „O środkach masowego przekazu”, „O środkach telewizyjnych i radiowych”, „O publicznej telewizji i radiofonii”. Omówiono działalność organów regulacyjnych, takich jak Krajowa Rada ds. Telewizji i Radia oraz Rada Prasowa. Wnioski dotyczące aktualnych trendów i wyzwań mediów w Azerbejdżanie oparto na analizie oficjalnych statystyk organizacji międzynarodowych (Freedom House, Komitet Ochrony Dziennikarzy) na temat stanu mediów w Azerbejdżanie, w tym kwestii cenzury w kraju.

Why the NLD fails to consolidate democratic transition in Myanmar

2021 ◽  
pp. 205789112110392
Author(s):  
Zayar Lay Swe
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Rating Agencies ◽  
National League ◽  
Freedom House

The general populace in Myanmar, as well as international observers, have expected that the National League for Democracy (NLD) would be able to consolidate democratic transition, since the latter obtained a certain degree of support from home and abroad. During the five years of the NLD administration, transition has nevertheless been in regression instead of progression. All rating agencies (Freedom House, Bertelsmann, VDem) consider that Myanmar is not yet a democracy. Freedom House's report indicates that Myanmar's status changed from ‘Partly Free’ to ‘Not Free’ in 2020. Much of the existing literature argues that this stems from the NLD having had to operate within structural constraints and agency curbs. Therefore, this article will examine why the NLD is unable to overcome these barriers, under which structural factors and what kind of agency. The article argues that, instead of structure-altering, the NLD has reinforced structural barriers without seeking any considerable leeway within the bounds of existing constraints. In the context of structure, this article will examine the transition process itself, as well as constitutional arrangements, the economic system, and the political culture. The agency context will include the behaviours of the chief executive, the Tatmadaw, and the general populace.

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