What Are the Conditions for Democracy?
The dramatic spread of democracy since the 1970s has radically transformed the international political landscape from one where democracies were the exception to the rule. This has been accompanied by the development of international norms that associate democracy with important positive outcomes, such as economic growth and respect for human rights. It has also made democracy the standard against which political systems are held to account by civil society organizations, foreign investors and other nations.
While it remains difficult to agree on the exact conditions that are necessary for democratisation, there is general agreement that the process must begin at the local level and be a product of local dynamics. In addition, it must be a dynamic process that involves the active participation of citizens. There is also agreement that the conditions for a democracy must include fair and free elections; separation of powers; checks and balances; protection and safeguarding of minority rights; freedom of expression, association and congregation; and social, cultural and economic equality.
Many scholars have argued that the conditions for democratisation are linked to economic development. They argue that the growing power of the masses can exert pressure on authoritarian elites to liberalize, and can provide credibility to democratic demands. Others, however, have pointed out that the relationship is not linear and that factors other than economic growth can be involved in democratization. The elite-choice theory is an attempt to overcome the problem of multiple causality that can arise in structural explanations and that explains why democratization can occur in some countries even with limited economic resources.
There is also consensus that democratization must be a gradual process, and that there are different paths to democracy. Some countries have developed their own democratic institutions over centuries, whereas others have become democratic through colonization and other forms of outside imposition. Still others have benefited from internal pressures to democratize (e.g., the transitions to parliamentary systems in Scandinavian countries), and some have been subjected to a foreign military intervention that resulted in democratization (e.g., the democratization of post-World War II Japan and Germany).
There is also agreement that democracy can be imposed from abroad but that this will only work when the conditions in the subjected society are favourable. It is difficult to do this successfully, however, without a previous degree of civil-society change, so that democratic ideas, values and practices can be perceived as not threatening but rather complementing traditional referents of identity and beliefs about what constitutes the common good. In this regard, the success of democratization in independent East Timor prior to 2006 has been widely depicted as a model for the effectiveness of this form of democratisation.
The dramatic spread of democracy since the 1970s has radically transformed the international political landscape from one where democracies were the exception to the rule. This has been accompanied by the development of international norms that associate democracy with important positive outcomes, such as economic growth and respect for human rights. It has also made democracy the standard against which political systems are held to account by civil society organizations, foreign investors and other nations. While it remains difficult to agree on the exact conditions that are necessary for democratisation, there is general agreement that the process must begin at the local level and be a product of local dynamics. In addition, it must be a dynamic process that involves the active participation of citizens. There is also agreement that the conditions for a democracy must include fair and free elections; separation of powers; checks and balances; protection and safeguarding of minority rights; freedom of expression, association and congregation; and social, cultural and economic equality. Many scholars have argued that the conditions for democratisation are linked to economic development. They argue that the growing power of the masses can exert pressure on authoritarian elites to liberalize, and can provide credibility to democratic demands. Others, however, have pointed out that the relationship is not linear and that factors other than economic growth can be involved in democratization. The elite-choice theory is an attempt to overcome the problem of multiple causality that can arise in structural explanations and that explains why democratization can occur in some countries even with limited economic resources. There is also consensus that democratization must be a gradual process, and that there are different paths to democracy. Some countries have developed their own democratic institutions over centuries, whereas others have become democratic through colonization and other forms of outside imposition. Still others have benefited from internal pressures to democratize (e.g., the transitions to parliamentary systems in Scandinavian countries), and some have been subjected to a foreign military intervention that resulted in democratization (e.g., the democratization of post-World War II Japan and Germany). There is also agreement that democracy can be imposed from abroad but that this will only work when the conditions in the subjected society are favourable. It is difficult to do this successfully, however, without a previous degree of civil-society change, so that democratic ideas, values and practices can be perceived as not threatening but rather complementing traditional referents of identity and beliefs about what constitutes the common good. In this regard, the success of democratization in independent East Timor prior to 2006 has been widely depicted as a model for the effectiveness of this form of democratisation.