In “Democracy’s Third Wave”, Samuel P. Huntington examines the creation of democracies during the third wave and questions whether they were part of a continuing “global democratic revolution” or simply a limited expansion only meant for countries that had already experienced democracy (Huntington, 1991). He does this through research based empirical study by tracing the series of events leading to democratization. There are both quantitative (in regards to economic growth and the amount/percentage of countries that democratized during all three waves) and qualitative (through historical evidence in regards to snowballing) research methods. Huntington’s examination is based on having democratization as his dependent variable and his five factors, …show more content…
This is also important in regards to the second strength in his argument. Historically speaking, a theocracy usually is not democratic and will more often than not stop being a theocracy when actual democracy becomes the norm. Perfect examples of this are: the Papal States pre-Italian unification, currently the Islamic Republic of Iran, England pre-glorious revolution, Spain during the reign of Isabel and Ferdinand, Pakistan currently, and the list goes on. These examples make Huntington’s argument more compelling, they show that, almost always, in order for a country to become democratic it must make church and state two separate entities. This is because theocracies usually are ruled in a way that closely resembles a monarchy, those in power are not elected; power is given to them. However, Huntington’s argument has some weaknesses as well. The biggest one being his black and white view of democracy, most importantly his two-turnover test. Here he explains that if a country remains a democracy after two turnovers of power then it is successfully considered a democracy. This is clearly an oversimplification of what being democratic means. By this definition Iraq would
Classical Liberalism, the Enlightenment, was a political movement that has impacted countries and their policies over many generations. The Enlightenment emphasized the notion that men are inherently good by nature (Bentley). The Enlightenment gave people the idea that a king was not necessary to rule over the people because people are not inherently bad. If anything, the people need someone to guide them but not have absolute rule over them. Revolutions have been based off of Enlightenment ideals because they are used to benefit the majority not the rich elite.
“The nature of tyrannies, dictatorships, and oligarchies is to use powers of suppression to deny citizens political and human rights. The nature of democracy is to find ways to guarantee those rights.” (Jacobus, pg. 51) By definition, democracy is, “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” (en.oxforddictionaries.com) The basic elements of democracy are (but not limited to) free and fair elections, protection of human rights, limited government power, and equality before the law. Robert A. Dahl believed the ideal of a perfect democracy is unrealistic. However, Dahl believed a democratic government is the best option despite its imperfections. Dahl lists
In the first place, many forces happened that united the American nation. The Jacksonian Democracy was one of the topics that brought America more united. The Second Great Awakening wanted people to believe that if they had the strength to improve themselves, they could improve society (pg 416). The Second Great Awakening had leaders that preached that their actions will determine where they go and end up in life (pg 415). Another important event was canals, railroads, roads. Railroads connected to other places so it can be used for traveling and easier transportation of goods used for trade (pg 403). Canals were made so boats and ships can carry more goods and go more further (pg 403). Roads helped travelers cross areas where it could be very
Democracy developed in Colonial America from 1607, at the founding of Jamestown, up to 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Democracy is defined as a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Ideas from documents created in England, such as the Bill of Rights, were brought over to the colonies. These ideas were implemented into the society of the colonists. The colonists also created their own democratic documents and ideas. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the first written constitution in America, and contained many democratic ideas including elections. The Mayflower Compact also had fundamental democratic ideals such as government by mutual consent. Roger Williams also provided an argument for the separation of church and state. A big part of the democracy that developed in Colonial America was the social mobility the colonists had in the new nation. All of these ideas showed that democracy developed in Colonial America.
Palmer, Robert Roswell. The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University, 1964.
Huntington has received many critiques from various academic writers who have either challenged him via their qualitative or quantitative researches. I will discuss some of them in this section and share my views on them.
James Madison’s idea, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” soundly captures my belief about our democracy. I believe the structure of our democracy is strong and effective, but unfortunately flawed by the people prosecuting it. From a textbook approach, I would argue that our democracy is almost an ideal model. The Madisonian model is set up to include a separation of powers and checks and balances to prevent tyranny. Our democracy holds strong principles which include, a limited government, free speech and press, free and fair elections, and allowing the people to vote; it also includes the process
Throughout this paper I plan to compare and contrast the ideas and philosophies of two of the greatest political thinkers of all time. Thucydides and Aristotle have separate opinions of the idea of democracy, originally created by Plato. However, these two have a positive assessment of this idea of majority rule of the people. My paper will provide each of their points of view. At the end I will determine, in my opinion, which of these two philosophers give a better case in favor of a democratic form of government, and give the reasons as to how I came to that conclusion.
Economic development is generally paired with democracy. Modernization theorists suggested that increasing education, equality, urbanization, and experience of working in factories and the weakening of traditional would result in citizens with more tolerant and participatory attitudes who would demand a say in government. These arguments served as the basis for democracy without specifying the process through whi...
If one accepts democracy as a practice, the question is then begged what kind of an institution sustains it? This discussion---though ...
Is a Democracy Really What You Think It Is? What is considered an ideal democracy? Would it be where the people rule directly or where there are representatives who organize the government?
Democracy is “...the word that resonates in people’s minds and springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of life...” (Schmitter and Karl, 1991:75). However, the word democracy has many different means depending on the country and context it is used in. “Every country has is own culture and comes by its political system through its own history” (Greenberg, 2007:101, cited in Li, 2008:4). Li, (2008) states that because of China’s political structure the usual road to democracy may be difficult for it to achieve. The western idea ...
Liberalism and democracy are closely tied together in international politics. They have a central bond which brings out the notion of democratic peace. Today much of Latin America and the European Union practices democracy. The chances of these nations getting into an armed conflict are very scarce in today’s standards. Liberalism promotes the idea of human security and equality and democracy reinforces that idea into the political framework of governing bodies and their higher authorities. Liberalism leads to democracy which promotes democratic peace preventing conflict between nations. This article will look at how liberalism leads to democratic peace through the process of creating democracy.
The question of whether democracy is sustainable in Latin America is a question that has been discussed in many books, classrooms, and in many governments throughout the world. If you look at the history of Latin America and study the different types of governments that have come and gone you will see that the United States has made many efforts to bring democracy to Latin America. There are many reasons why democracy has had difficulty dominating the governments in Latin America. Some of these reasons include but are not limited to religion, the military, the influence of communism, and culture itself. But there is not a text book answer to why only the opinions of authors and diplomats from around the world. Harold E. Davis stated in his journal article that “Democracy like dictatorship is not absolute. It exists in many different forms and degrees. It is a fact of history, not a proposition of theology.” (Davis pg. 45) I think this is a wonderful statement about democracy that can be applied to Latin America. (Davis)
In the wake of the Cold War political scientists have tried to figure out what it takes for a State to turn democratic. The answer is that the foundation of Structuralist theory is sufficient for a successful transition to a democratic government but it is not necessary because while education, urbanization and industrialization are aspects that help aid the transition there are nations that have not possessed these qualities and still made a democratic transition and I will show this by examining the contrast between the democratization paths between South Africa and El Salvador.