The Power of Elections Revisited (original) (raw)

2007, Elections and Political Identities in New Democracies

AI-generated Abstract

The research revisits the dynamics and impacts of elections in transitional democracies across various regions, particularly focusing on the unique challenges faced by countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia following the collapse of socialist regimes. It emphasizes how individual, structural, and mass-level factors interplay in shaping democratization processes, highlighting the role of democracy assistance and civil society in successful transitions. The paper contrasts participatory and representative democratic models, suggesting that while participatory democracy can enhance representation, it ultimately functions as a supplement to traditional frameworks.

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The Democratic Transition

2011

ABSTRACT Over the last two centuries, many countries experienced regime transitions toward democracy. We document this democratic transition over a long time horizon. We use historical time series of income, education and democracy levels from 1870 to 2000 to explore the economic factors associated with rising levels of democracy. We find that primary schooling, and to a weaker extent per capita income levels, are strong determinants of the quality of political institutions.

After democratic transition

2020

Democratic transition in post-Communist east-central Europe was primarily facilitated by external developments including the fall of the Soviet Union and European integration. Today, in the absence of any such favourable exogenous factors, it remains to be seen whether democratic institutions have grown strong enough in the region to withstand undemocratic and illiberal currents induced by the economic crisis.

Democratic transitions

2006

Przeworski et al.(2000) challenge the key hypothesis in modernization theory: political regimes do not transition to democracy as per capita incomes rise, they argue. Rather, democratic transitions occur randomly, but once there, countries with higher levels of GDP per capita remain democratic. We retest the modernization hypothesis using new data, new techniques, and a three-way rather than dichotomous classification of regimes. Contrary to Przeworski et al.(2000) we find that the modernization hypothesis stands up well.

The Twilight Zone of Political Transition: Between Revolution and Democratic Change

Political Reflection Magazine, 2019

O´Donnell, Schmitter and Whitehead define transition broadly as "the interval between one political regime and another". Plattner concludes that "they emphasize a particular path to democratic transition – one that is neither violent nor revolutionary, but proceeds from negotiation between an outgoing authoritarian regime and its democratic opposition and often relies upon formal pacts that provide security guarantees to both sides". I wonder whether there is a common and clear pattern to democratic transition, or if rather exists a "twilight zone" in which violence is still permitted as the "vestige" of the vanishing authoritarian regime. In this brief article, I explore the connections between revolution and democracy in political changes.

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