scholarly journals The Institutional Order of Liberalization

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Amanda B. Edgell ◽  
Vanessa A. Boese ◽  
Seraphine F. Maerz ◽  
Patrik Lindenfors ◽  
Staffan I. Lindberg
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Clear Pattern ◽  
Domination Analysis ◽  
Institutional Order

Abstract When authoritarian regimes liberalize, are there observable patterns in the ordering of reforms, and are these patterns distinct for cases that transition to democracy? While the prevailing literature tends to focus on exogenous ‘determinants’ of democracy, this letter describes the endogenous dynamics of liberalization itself. Using pairwise domination analysis, it assesses the institutional order of reforms during 371 episodes of liberalization in autocracies between 1900 and 2019. Based on twenty-four indicators of democratic institutions and practices, our findings reveal (1) a clear pattern of reform during liberalization episodes, (2) with strong similarities across outcomes, but also that (3) reforms to the administration of elections tend to develop comparatively earlier in episodes of liberalization that produce a democratic transition.

scholarly journals A VIA DEMOCRÁTICA AO AUTORITARISMO

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Paulo César Nascimento
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Hannah Arendt ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The Will ◽  
Hugo Chavez

Este artigo analisa as teorias de Aristóteles, Tocqueville e Hannah Arendt a respeito de como alguns aspectos da democracia como a busca do igualitarismo e o voto majoritário podem conduzir ao despotismo. Examinando os casos da democratização da Rússia pós-comunista e o sistema político da Venezuela durante a presidencia de Hugo Chavez, o texto procura demonstrar a importância das idéias daqueles pensadores para a compreensão de regimes autoritários legitimados pelo voto popular.---The democratic route of autoritarismThis article reviews the theories of Aristotle, Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt with respect to some elements of democracy such as the pursue of egalitarianism and the reliance on the will of the majority that can lead to despotism. On the basis of post-communist Russia’s transition to democracy and Venezuela’s political system under the presidency of Hugo Chavez, the article shows the importance of those thinker’s insights to understand current authoritarian regimes which rely on popular vote.keywords: democracy, autoritarian regimes, voting.

Carl Schmitt as a Resource for Democratic Consolidation Studies

2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 784-801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zenonas Norkus
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The State ◽  
Carl Schmitt ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Institutional Dimension ◽  
Effective Use

This article is a case study of the recent impeachment of President Paksas of Lithuania, exploring the heuristic value of Carl Schmitt's extremalist methodology for research on the institutional dimension of democratic consolidation. This methodology considers the performance of the democratic regime under extreme or exceptional conditions as the test of its consolidation. As presidential and semipresidential regimes are predisposed to evolve into authoritarian regimes and delegative democracies, effective use of the impeachment procedure can be considered to be the positive Schmittean test of the state of democratic consolidation for a political system involved in democratic transition.

Rural Movements and the Transition to Democracy in Spain

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Herrera ◽  
John Markoff
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Dynamic Character ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Movement Activism

Scholars of Spain's democratic transition vary considerably in the role they attribute to movements. Spanish democratization is widely known for its successful elite negotiations and some describe it as an instance of democratization from above. For others it is a case of social movement activism creating problems for those elites negotiating the democratization process. Among those social movements, the least studied took place in the Spanish countryside. Rural movements played a role well beyond the standard accounts in two important ways. First, they challenged significant obstacles to democratization that elite deals had left in place at the local level. And, second, the local arena had major implications for the national scene. We trace the history of four rural campaigns that were a pivotal component of Spanish democratization. We conclude with some general observations on the role of social movements in imparting a dynamic character to democracy.

Tolerance, Transition, and Support for Civil Liberties in Russia

1997 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
DONNA BAHRY ◽  
CYNTHIA BOAZ ◽  
STACY BURNETT GORDON
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Gorbachev Era

Research on the U.S.S.R. and its successor states since the late Gorbachev era has found substantial public support for the idea of free elections, multiple parties, and expanded civil rights. But it also points to a gap between support for democratic values in the abstract versus willingness to apply them in practice. People who profess democratic values ( demophiles) appear to be all too willing to deny rights to groups they dislike. Interpretations of this tolerance gap have focused on the confusion wrought by democratic transition, on the complexity of the idea of tolerance, and on the legacies of authoritarian culture. This article suggests instead that demophiles are responding rationally to the fragility of new democratic institutions. The tolerance gap is less the product of confusion or ingrained authoritarian culture than a logical response to political chaos.

Heterodox Shock in Brazil: Técnicos, Politicians, and Democracy

1991 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourdes Sola
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Regime Change ◽  
Foreign Debt ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Focal Points ◽  
Economic Uncertainty ◽  
Social Dimensions

The recent experiences of transition to democracy in Latin America have taken place in circumstances which suggest a need to rethink the political and social dimensions of inflation. The experience of the 1980s reveals that the once familiar road which led from an inflationary spiral and a rising foreign debt to the collapse of democracy can also be travelled by other types of regime. The crisis of the bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes, Chile apart, reflected an inability to deal with those same focal points of political and economic uncertainty. The sequence which runs from high (or hyper) inflation to political regime change may be neutral, in the sense that it is indifferent to whether the regimes affected are democratic or authoritarian.

scholarly journals Violence, Governance, and Uncertainty

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Rebecca Tapscott
Keyword(s):  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Civic Organization ◽  
Arbitrary Power ◽  
Civic Spaces ◽  
New Form ◽  
Everyday Experiences

The majority of today’s authoritarian regimes are characterized by a paradox in which democratic institutions exist alongside the ruler’s exercise of arbitrary power. The continued existence of civic spaces and democratic institutions can create opportunities for citizens to organize and make claims on the regime. How do rulers maintain control under such circumstances? To contribute to this ongoing debate, this book identifies ‘institutionalized arbitrariness’ as a new form of authoritarianism. Regimes characterized by institutionalized arbitrariness do not try to eliminate civic organization or democratic space, but instead use unpredictable and violent intervention to make those spaces fragile. They are more concerned with weakening competition than with maximizing control. To elaborate these dynamics, this chapter links everyday experiences of local insecurity in Uganda to contemporary debates about authoritarian rule. After positioning Uganda under President Museveni as a key case of modern authoritarianism, the chapter outlines the study and previews the book’s main findings.

scholarly journals The Scenes of Memory during the Era of the Democratic Transition in Spain: Politics and Culture / Los escenarios de la memoria durante la transición democrática en España: política y cultura

2017 ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Pasamar
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Political Strategies ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Politics And Culture ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Generational Changes ◽  
The Way

In this article we shall examine the scenes of memory of the Civil War and the Franco era during the years of the transition to democracy in Spain, especially 1976 and 1977. After discussing the usefulness for research of the narratives describing the role played by such remembrances, we study the different interplays between memories and oblivions of those historical events. Instead of using memory and oblivion as static and predetermined ideas as is normally the case with such narratives, we highlight the dynamic elements that help organize them (generational changes, culture, political strategies, etc.). While culture became a fertile ground for the remembrance of the Civil War and the Franco era, politics was clearly obliged to limit its use because of the way the transition evolved.Key Words:Memory, Spanish Civil War, Transition, generation gap.ResumenEn el presente artículo examinamos los escenarios de la memoria de la Guerra Civil y del franquismo durante los años de la transición a la democracia en España, especialmente 1976 y 1977. Tras discutir la utilidad de las narrativas que han dado cuenta del papel que tales recuerdos han jugado durante de la Transición, estudiamos la interrelación entre los recuerdos y los olvidos de dichos acontecimientos históricos. En lugar de utilizar la memoria y el olvido como ideas predeterminadas y estáticas, subrayamos los elementos dinámicos de ambos (cambios generacionales, cultura, estrategias políticas, etc.). Defendemos que mientras la cultura llegó a convertirse en un terreno destacado para la evocación de la Guerra y el franquismo, la política se trazó a sí misma una serie de límites en el uso de dicha evocación debido al modo en que se desarrolló la propia Transición.Palabras clave:memoria, guerra civil española, Transición, brecha generacional

Chile’s Political Democracy and Economic Inequality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Borzutzky
Keyword(s):  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Successful Transition ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Market Economic ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Pinochet Dictatorship

Since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1989, Chile has seen a remarkable coexistence of democratic institutions and economic inequality, because while there has been a successful transition to democracy over time, the market economic policies imposed by the Pinochet dictatorship have remained the same. These economic policies have resulted in large social and economic inequalities that have profoundly divided Chilean society. There are no indications that these inequalities and these social divisions will be dramatically reduced unless the current market economic policies are changed and policies based on a new pro-equality agenda are implemented.

THE ISSUE OF INSTITUTIONAL VACUUM DURING TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49
Author(s):  
Sanjar Abdurakhmonov ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Democratic Principles

This article discusses complex relations between democratic institutions and traditional political ones and their interactions in the process of democratization. It also touches issues of emergence of institutional vacuum in transition and its impact on reforms. The issues of the formation of democratic conduct in terms of contradiction between democratic principles and traditional political culture, and customs are theoretically analyzed

Virtual Legality

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY W. PEREIRA
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Military Justice ◽  
Transitions To Democracy ◽  
Legal Justification ◽  
The Military ◽  
Relevant Factors

Authoritarian regimes in Latin America frequently expanded military court jurisdiction to prosecute political opponents and protect members of the armed forces and police engaged in repression. What happened to the military courts after the recent transitions to democracy in the region? Why did some democratic transitions produce broad reform of military justice while most did not? This article first reviews contending theoretical explanations that offer answers to these questions, comparing those answers with actual outcomes in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. It then argues that the “mode of transition” perspective, which attributes variation in the extent of military justice reform to the autonomy and strength of the military in the democratic transition, best explains the outcomes in these cases. However, the military's autonomy and strength should be specified. In the area of military justice, the relevant factors are the military's propagation of an accepted legal justification for past uses of military courts and the creation of congressional support for the maintenance of existing military court jurisdiction. Both of these factors are present in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, where little or no reform of military justice took place under democratization, and absent in Argentina, where broad reform did occur.

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