What is Democratisation?
Democratisation is the process of developing a democratic political system, or changing an existing regime to be more democratic. This is not easy and has happened at different times in history, resulting in a range of political systems.
Despite the diversity of the cases, there appears to be general agreement that the development of democracy requires the active participation of citizens and that the more educated the population, the more likely it is to engage in the democratic process. It also seems to be essential that citizens are free of repressive political institutions, such as the military and police, in order to allow them to participate in the democratic system. The idea that people are naturally equal and that their freedom should be reflected in the way they govern themselves, is another important element.
There is no consensus on the precise conditions that promote Democratisation, and many scholars have suggested different possible factors. However, there is broad agreement that a country’s level of economic development is an important factor; a transition to democracy is more likely where the economy is growing and is less likely where the economy is stagnating. It is also agreed that a country’s level of education is an important factor; better educated citizens are more likely to be involved in politics and more likely to demand both representation and accountability.
In addition, it is generally accepted that the development of democracy is a gradual process, rather than a sudden shock. This suggests that the key issue is to change elites’ attitudes to democracy, and it may be important to help them understand that the benefits of a democratic political system outweigh the risks. This could be achieved through a variety of methods, such as training programmes, offering incentives, and helping to develop an independent press.
It is also widely believed that a country’s level of religious tolerance is an important factor; some scholars have even argued that religion can be used to promote Democratisation by allowing people to express their views without fear of persecution. Finally, there is widespread recognition that a successful democracy needs a stable economy; it is not possible to have both a vibrant middle class and democratic representation if the state is constantly under threat from terrorist groups or foreign aggression.
These are just some of the factors that have been linked to Democratisation, but there is still a lot of work to do in terms of sorting out and refining the various theories of what causes Democratisation, so that we can move from correlations to causal sequences. It is also necessary to shift our focus from the macro-level factors to the micro-level, to look at how individuals’ participation in public politics, inequality and trust-sustaining networks function to promote Democratisation. It is only by doing this that we will be able to understand the complexity of the forces that shape concrete processes of Democratisation.
Democratisation is the process of developing a democratic political system, or changing an existing regime to be more democratic. This is not easy and has happened at different times in history, resulting in a range of political systems. Despite the diversity of the cases, there appears to be general agreement that the development of democracy requires the active participation of citizens and that the more educated the population, the more likely it is to engage in the democratic process. It also seems to be essential that citizens are free of repressive political institutions, such as the military and police, in order to allow them to participate in the democratic system. The idea that people are naturally equal and that their freedom should be reflected in the way they govern themselves, is another important element. There is no consensus on the precise conditions that promote Democratisation, and many scholars have suggested different possible factors. However, there is broad agreement that a country’s level of economic development is an important factor; a transition to democracy is more likely where the economy is growing and is less likely where the economy is stagnating. It is also agreed that a country’s level of education is an important factor; better educated citizens are more likely to be involved in politics and more likely to demand both representation and accountability. In addition, it is generally accepted that the development of democracy is a gradual process, rather than a sudden shock. This suggests that the key issue is to change elites’ attitudes to democracy, and it may be important to help them understand that the benefits of a democratic political system outweigh the risks. This could be achieved through a variety of methods, such as training programmes, offering incentives, and helping to develop an independent press. It is also widely believed that a country’s level of religious tolerance is an important factor; some scholars have even argued that religion can be used to promote Democratisation by allowing people to express their views without fear of persecution. Finally, there is widespread recognition that a successful democracy needs a stable economy; it is not possible to have both a vibrant middle class and democratic representation if the state is constantly under threat from terrorist groups or foreign aggression. These are just some of the factors that have been linked to Democratisation, but there is still a lot of work to do in terms of sorting out and refining the various theories of what causes Democratisation, so that we can move from correlations to causal sequences. It is also necessary to shift our focus from the macro-level factors to the micro-level, to look at how individuals’ participation in public politics, inequality and trust-sustaining networks function to promote Democratisation. It is only by doing this that we will be able to understand the complexity of the forces that shape concrete processes of Democratisation.