Political Science 233, The Global Resurgence of Democracy

Spring 2000

Professor: Alfred P. Montero	Office: Willis 407
Phone: x4085 (Office) x5407 (Home)	Email: Amontero@carleton.edu
Office Hours: 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. T-Th	Class Web Page

Course Description

Beginning with the liberalization of authoritarian rule in Portugal in 1974 and extending into the 1990's, dozens of countries around the world completed transitions to democracy. Scholars marveled at this latest resurgence of democracy. Some characterized it as an inexorable "wave" of democratization. But just as soon as these new democracies made their way through Southern Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Russia, and East Asia, the "consolidation" of these regimes faltered. Upon closer examination, scholars found several illiberal aspects to these new democracies. Some were threatened by the persistence of authoritarian interests who remained disloyal to the democratic order. Others were weakened by poorly organized civil societies, anemic political parties, and electoral rules that favored personalist leadership at the cost of elite accountability to the electorate. Although these polities remained formally democratic - they held periodic elections and maintained laws defining and defending civil rights - in practice they continued to suffer from extrajudicial challenges to democratic procedures. As one notable scholar of democracy has observed ominously, these countries were "condemned to democracy."

Both the successes and failures of this latest global resurgence of democracy are the focus of study in this course. The purpose of this course is to train students to think critically about the "global resurgence of democracy," its antecedents, and its lessons for future democracies. The course will challenge students to analyze complex political problems in different regional contexts (Europe, Latin America, Russia, East Asia, and Africa) and encourage them to provide informed arguments on these matters. Besides reading and attending class presentations, this course will invite students to write and orally communicate their observations about the substantive questions in the course.

The first section of this course introduces students to the "pre-resurgence" period in the 20th century with an investigation of why democracies around the world have faltered. This section will examine how nascent democracies in places as distinct as Weimar Germany, Republican Spain, and Latin America during the 1960's and early 1970's, were overthrown by authoritarian leaders. The section will also cover the dynamics of these authoritarian regimes.

Section two focuses on the regime transitions that initiated the recent, global resurgence of democracy. The section examines the factors that led to the erosion of authoritarian rule and its replacement by democratic elites and institutions. The section also outlines the travails of these newly democratic societies as they dealt with their authoritarian past and engineered more open political regimes.

Section three introduces students to the problems of democratic "consolidation." After regime transitions, nascent democracies were compelled to deal with more than outgoing authoritarian interests. They faced the exigencies of building viable electoral and party systems, coordinating executive-legislative relations, implementing economic reform, guaranteeing greater social equity, restructuring civil-military relations, protecting civil and human rights, and reforming the state. This section explores contrasting arguments that explain the diverse performance of these new democracies as they sought "consolidation."

What is Expected of Students

Students will be expected to read, think, criticize, and form arguments. That means that students must keep up in their reading assignments and attend class regularly. Students must be fully prepared at all times to discuss the readings and concepts from previous lectures. The best students will be critical but balanced in their assessments, and will develop coherent arguments that they can defend in their writing and their in-class discussion.

Reading Materials

The six required books for this course have been ordered and are presently on sale at the college bookstore. The texts are:

Guillermo O'Donnell and Philippe C. Schmitter. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore: John Hopkins.

Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan. 1996. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore: John Hopkins.

Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, Yun-han Chu, and Hung-mao Tien. 1997. Consolidating the Third Wave Democracies: Themes and Perspectives. Baltimore: John Hopkins.

Arend Lijphart and Carlos H. Waisman, eds. 1996. Institutional Design in New Democracies: Eastern Europe and Latin America. Boulder: Westview Press.

Matthew Soberg Shugart and John M. Carey. 1992. Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Stephan Haggard and Robert R. Kaufman. 1995. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

In addition to these texts, this course requires your study of a number of other readings from diverse sources. In order to facilitate your access to these materials, I have placed multiple copies of these readings on closed reserve. In order to reduce your costs, I have also placed the required books on closed reserve.

In addition to the readings, this course requires your use of select audio and video materials. These items include a couple of feature-length films, documentaries, and National Public Radio reports on audio tapes. Brief portions of these multimedia items will be presented during class as a part of the lectures. In some cases, you will be required to view and listen to these materials in their entirety during off-class hours. Wherever possible, these materials have been placed on closed reserve.

I will occasionally distribute handouts and clippings from The New York Times, The Journal of Democracy, the Economist, Current History, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the internet at the beginning of class. Students are also invited to check out links to course relevant web pages on the professor's web page.

Grading

Assessment of the students in this course will be based on their performance on two short papers, a long writing assignments, a comprehensive exam, and participation. The grade breakdown follows:

Short Essay #1	15%
Short Essay #2	15%
Long Writing Assignment	25%
Comprehensive Exam	30%
Class Participation	15%

The Writing Assignments

The purpose of the writing assignments is to provide the students with an opportunity to reflect more thoughtfully than is possible in the exams on both the theories and empirical cases of the course. These assignments must be turned in before or on the due date specified below. A brief handout will provide further details regarding each assignment at least one week before the paper is due. Late work will receive no credit.

The Short Writing Assignments - Students will be asked to prepare two short critical essays of five to six pages in length (typed, double-spaced, 12cpi, one-inch margins, and paginated).

The First Essay will ask students to test Juan Linz's hypothesis about the breakdown of democratic regimes by exploring how his argument works in a comparison of any two of the following empirical cases: Argentina (1955 or 1966), Brazil (1964), Chile (1973), Spain (1936), Germany (1933), Uruguay (1973), Peru (1992), Italy (1922), Nigeria (1966 or 1993), Pakistan (1999), or Ecuador (2000).

The Second Essay will ask students to choose two country cases from the Lijphart and Waisman book and analyze how constitutional design, party system structure, and other electoral dynamics bear upon the effectiveness and efficiency of the democratic procedures of selecting leaders, representing constituents, and governing.

The Long Writing Assignment - Students will be required to prepare one 8-10 page (typed, double-spaced, 12cpi, one-inch margins, and paginated) paper on a comparison of any two country cases. This paper will present an argument explaining similar and contrasting patterns of democratic transition and consolidation in the two cases. The analysis will include sections on (a) the transition to democracy; (b) civil-military relations (if applicable); (c) political institutional design; (d) accountability-enhancing institutions; and (e) efforts at economic reform. Complete endnote citation or in-text citation and bibliography must be included.

Beyond these constraints the student is free to select a paired comparison of her/his choice, but consultation with the professor is required. The purpose of the long writing assignment is to give the students an opportunity to develop their knowledge of particular countries and apply what they have learned to empirical cases.

Class Participation

Communicating your insight into the subjects analyzed in this course is an integral part of the learning experience. In no way do I consider class participation a residual category for subjectively determining the final grade. In this course, I will evaluate your performance in both formal, scheduled presentations and informal class discussion. All oral arguments and presentations will be assessed on structure, relevance, insight, and style. The following are structured presentation formats that will be used in this course:

1. A simulation on transitions to democracy.
2. Group debate on the role of civil society in democratic transitions.
3. Debate on justice and civil-military relations in Chile.
4. A group simulation on institutional design in new democracies.
5. A collective project on building democracy in Angola.
6. Small group discussions on various topics.

Although I will lecture at the beginning of our study of each new topic area, I will do less lecturing as you read more on the subject and are better able to discuss materials, issues, and approaches in class.

The Grading Scale

I will be using the following grading scale in this course:

Academic Misconduct

Given the fact that academe relies upon the ethical conduct of scholars, students are held to the same standards in their own work. Any act of academic dishonesty or misconduct will be referred to the Office of the Dean. For further information, see Carleton College's Academic Honesty in the Writing of Essays and Other Papers and the section on "academic honesty" in Academic Regulations and Procedures, 1999-00. Both are available in Laird 140.

Special Needs

Students requiring access to learning tools/special schedules approved by Student Support Services should contact me at the beginning of the course.

NOTE: Readings must be completed for the dates assigned below.

Introduction to the course: What is the "Global Resurgence of Democracy?" What does it mean? (March 28, Tuesday)

Session 1: Understanding the Collapse of Democratic Regimes & the Rise of Authoritarianism

A model of democratic collapse (March 30, Thursday)

Juan Linz. 1978. The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes: Crisis, Breakdown, and Reequilibration. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, pp. 14-50.

Film: The Fall of Spain's First Democracy: The Republic.

Types of authoritarian regimes (April 4, Tuesday)

Linz & Stepan, Chapter 3.

H. E. Chehabi and Juan J. Linz. 1998. "A Theory of Sultanism: A Type of Nondemocratic Rule." In Sultanistic Regimes, eds. H. E. Chehabi and Juan J. Linz. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

What is "legitimacy" for authoritarian regimes? (April 6, Thursday)

Walter Laquer. 1996. Fascism: Past, Present, Future. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 21-27 & 56-76.

Film: "The Architecture of Doom" (Dir. Peter Cohen, Germany).

Session 2: Liberalization and Elite Pacts

Under what conditions is liberalization of authoritarianism possible/probable? (April 11, Tuesday)

O'Donnell and Schmitter, Chapters 1-3.

Linz & Stepan, Chapters 4-5.

SHORT ESSAY #1 DUE (April 11, Tuesday)

How can democratic elites turn liberalization into democratization? (April 13, Thursday)

O'Donnell & Schmitter, Chapter 4.

José María Maravall and Juliãn Santamaría. 1986. "Political Change in Spain and the Prospects for Democracy." In Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Southern Europe, eds. Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

Choose one of the following:

Linz & Stepan, Chapters 7 (Portugal), 8 (Greece), 10 (Uruguay), 11 (Brazil), 12 (Argentina), or 13 (Chile).

Jeffrey Herbst. 1997-98. "Prospects for Elite-Driven Democracy in South Africa." Political Science Quarterly 112:4 (Winter): 595-615.

Simulation #1: The Transition Game

Session 3: The "Resurrection of Civil Society"

What is the role of civil society in transitions to democracy? (April 18, Tuesday)

O'Donnell & Schmitter, Chapter 5.

Nancy Bermeo. 1997. "Myths of Moderation: Confrontation and Conflict During Democratic Transition." Comparative Politics 29:3 (April).

Linz & Stepan, Chapters 16 & 17.

Film: "PBS Frontline: The Pope." (Will be shown at time and place TBA; followed by an informal discussion).

Can civil society govern a transition to democracy? (April 20, Thursday)

O'Donnell & Schmitter, Chapter 6.

Larry Diamond. 1996. "Toward Democratic Consolidation." In The Global Resurgence of Democracy, 2nd Ed., eds. Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

Linz & Stepan, Chapters 2 & 20.

Debate #1: Elite pacts v. civil societal "conquest."

Session 4: Civil-Military Relations

Can formerly putchist militaries be made to accept democracy? Is that enough for 'democratic consolidation'? (April 25, Tuesday)

Guillermo O'Donnell, "Illusions about Consolidation," in Diamond et al., eds.

Felipe Agüero, "Toward Civilian Supremacy in South America," in Diamond et al., eds.

Harold Crouch, "Civil-Military Relations in Southeast Asia," in Diamond et al., eds.

How can post-authoritarian societies cope with authoritarian legacies? (April 27, Thursday)

Jean Franco. 1992. "Gender, Death, and Resistance: Facing the Ethical Vacuum." In Fear at the Edge: State Terror and Resistance in Latin America, eds. Juan E. Corradi, Patricia Weiss Fagen, and Manuel Antonio Garreton. Berkeley, CA: University of California, Berkeley Press.

Emilio F. Mignone. 1992. "Beyond Fear: Forms of Justice and Compensation." In Corradi et al.

Javier Martínez. 1992. "Fear of the State, Fear of Society: On the Opposition Protests in Chile." In Corradi et al.

Film: "CNN Perspectives: Pinochet." (Will be shown before class meeting as background to debate).

Debate #2: Justice or Peace? Should the generals be put on trial? The case of Chile.

Session 5: Institutional Design: Presidentialism/Parliamentarism and Electoral Systems

Presidentialism versus Parliamentarism and Everything In Between (May 2, Tuesday)

Shugart and Carey, Chapters 1-5 & 7.

Juan Linz. 1990. "The Perils of Presidentialism." In The Global Resurgence of Democracy, 2nd Ed., eds. Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

Comparative Electoral Systems (May 4, Thursday)

Shugart and Carey, Chapters 9 & 10.

Designing Democracy (May 9, Tuesday)

John M. Carey, "Institutional Design and Party Systems," in Diamond et al., eds.

The-fu Huang, "Party Systems in Taiwan and South Korea," in Diamond et al., eds.

Simulation #2: Institutional Design

SHORT ESSAY #2 DUE (May 11, Thursday)

Session 6: Accountability

'Horizontal' and 'Vertical' Accountability (May 11, Thursday)

Andreas Schedler. 1999. "Conceptualizing Accountability." In The Self-Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies, eds. Andreas Schedler, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Guillermo O'Donnell. 1996. "Delegative Democracy." In The Global Resurgence of Democracy, 2nd Ed., eds. Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

Accountability-Enhancing Reforms (May 16, Tuesday)

Jennifer Widner. 1999. "Building Judicial Independence in Common Law Africa." In The Self-Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies, eds. Andreas Schedler, Larry diamond, and Marc F. Plattner. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Pilar Domingo. 1999. "Judicial Independence and Judicial Reform in Latin America." In Schedler et al., eds.

John R. Heilbrunn. 1999. "Corruption, Democracy, and Reform in Benin." In Schedler et al., eds.

Silvia Colazingari and Susan Rose-Ackerman. 1998. "Corruption in a Paternalistic Democracy: Lessons from Italy for Latin America." Political Science Quarterly 113:3 (Fall).

Session 7: Economic Reform and Regime Consolidation

Do economic reforms enhance or weaken democracy? (May 18, Thursday)

Haggard & Kaufman, Chapters 5, 9 & 10.

Can new democracies deal effectively with the exigencies of "dual transitions?" (May 23, Tuesday)

Haggard & Kaufman, Chapters 6-7.

Session 8: The Case Study of Angola (May 25, Thursday)

Group Presentations

Final Assessment (May 30, Tuesday)

LONG WRITING ASSIGNMENT IS DUE; Comprehensive exam questions distributed (May 30, Tuesday)

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM DUE (June 5, Monday)