(2) 23 Oct: TRANSITION AND CONSOLIDATION OF DEMOCRACY

Jovan Teokarevic

“TRANSITION PARADIGM” (Thomas Carothers) – in question: - getting out of dictatorship = democratization; all countries “in

transition”- strict order of phases of democratic transition- deciding importance of elections (= democracy)- structural conditions do not matter- third wave democratic transitions rely on coherent, functional

states

EXPECTATIONS FROM DEMOCRACY (Claus Offe):Democracy CAN:

- „Civilize conflicts“ – make the solutions possible- Avoid war between democracies- Provide for good economy and just society- Let people think about public issues

Democracy CANNOT: - help in state-building

- create itself, or even guarantee itself - create „political community“ – it has to be known in advance

Conditions and actors – two approaches

Democracy – a compromise

Political elites have the key role in transition to democracy. “Democracy imposed by elites”

Four main actors: hard-liners and soft-liners (within the ancien regime) + radicals and moderates (in the opposition)

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Democratization: liberalization – transition - consolidation

Democratization: problems1. „Democratic paradox“ – nationalists and other nondemocratic

actors in power2. Wars more probable3. Getting rid of the state bonds also means relativization of moral

and legal values

Linz-Stepan: DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION IS FINISHED when: - consensus reached on the political steps to lead to the elected

government- the government comes to power on the basis of free and general

elections- that government has the power to create new policies- executive, legislative and judicial powes, created by new

democracies, do not have to share power with others

Democracy becomes – „the only game in town“

CONSOLIDATED DEMOCRACY: - behaviour : no one is trying to impose a non-democratic regime or

to turn to violence or foreign intervention in order to secede

- attitudes : convincing majority thinks that democratic institutions and procedures are the most adequate way of running the society; support to anti-system alternatives limited

- constitution : both the government and the opposition respect the conflict resolution within the laws, procedures and institutions established by the new democratic process

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ARENAS OF CONSOLIDATED DEMOCRACY (Linz-Stepan)State – the precondition. No state – no democracy

1) civil society; 2) political society; 3) rule of law;

4) state administration; 5) economic society

Merkel: EMBEDDED AND DEFECTIVE DEMOCRACIES

Functional embedded democracy = five partial regimes of democracy

Internal embeddednessElectoral regime

Political freedoms Civil rights

Horizontal accountabilityReal power of ruling

External conditionsHigh level of soc-econ. developmentIntegrated within democratically-oriented int. org.Vital civil society

DEFFECTIVE DEMOCRACIESExclusive

Domain Illiberal

Delegative

Causes of deffective democracies:Course and level of modernization; Economic trends; Social capital; Civil society; Nation- and state-building; Type of former non-democratic regime; Transition mode; Political institutions; International and regional context

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TRANSITION MODELS (Huntington)

Transformation (reforma): elites in power lead democratization Brazil, Spain, Mexico, Hungary… Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia 1990s, Macedonia

Replacement (ruptura): opposition groups lead Personal dictatorships (Romania)… Croatia 1990s and 2000, Serbia 2000,

Transplacement (ruptforma): power and opposition together (round table negotiations)

Poland, Czechoslovakia, South Korea

CONSOLIDATION – 3 TYPES OF PROBLEMS:

1. Problems of transition2. Contextual problems3. Systemic problems

CONSOLIDATION MORE SUCCESSFULL:

1. Experience with democracy longer and more recent

2. Level of economic development

3. International actors – in favour of democratization

4. Timing - the beginning of the democratization

5. Transition model – consolidation (peaceful, with the consent of all parties) - transplacement through negotiations

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- transformations- replacements and foreign interventions

6. Contextual problems – how many and of what nature

7. Institutional design of the new democratic system

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