Article 22

WHAT DEMOCRACY IS... AND IS NOT

Philippe C. Schmitter & Terry Lynn Karl

JT or some time, the word democracy has been circulat racy work. They are not expressly included among the ge ing as a debased currency in the political marketplace. neric concepts or formal procedures, but the prospect for Politicians with a wide range of convictions and practices democracy is grim if their underlying conditioning effects strove to appropriate the label and attach it to their ac are not present. tions. Scholars, conversely, hesitated to use it—without One of the major themes of this essay is that democracy adding qualifying adjectives—because of the ambiguity does not consist ofa single unique set of institutions. that surrounds it. The distinguished American political There are many types of democracy, and their diverse theorist Robert Dahl even tried to introduce a new term, practices produce a similarly varied set of effects. The "polyarchy," in its stead in the (vain) hope of gaining a specific form democracy takes is contingent upon a coun greater measure of conceptual precision. But for better or try's socioeconomic conditions as well as its entrenched worse, we are "stuck" with democracy as the catchword state structures and policy practices. of contemporary political discourse. Itis the word that Modern political democracy is a system of governance in resonates in people's minds and springs from their lips as which rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public they struggle for freedom and a better way of life; it is the realm by citizens, acting indirectly through the competition word whose meaning we must discern ifit is to be of any and cooperation of their elected representatives? use in guiding political analysis and practice. A regime or system of governance is an ensemble of pat The wave of transitions away from autocratic rule that terns that determines the methods ofaccess to the princi began with Portugal's "Revolution ofthe Carnations" in pal public offices; the characteristics of the actors 1974 and seems to have crested with the collapse of com admitted to or excluded from such access; the strategies munist regimes across Eastern Europe in 1989 has pro that actors may use to gain access; and the rules thatare duced a welcome convergence toward [a] common followed in the making of publicly binding decisions. To definition of democracy.1 Everywhere there has been a si work properly, the ensemble must be institutionalized— lent abandonment of dubious adjectives like "popular," that is to say, the various patterns must be habitually "guided," "bourgeois," and "formal" to modify "democ known, practiced, and accepted by most, if not all, actors. racy." At the same time, a remarkable consensus has Increasingly, the preferred mechanism of institutionaliza- emerged concerning the minimal conditions that polities tion is a written body of laws undergirded by a written must meet in order to merit the prestigious appellation of constitution, though many enduring political norms can "democratic." Moreover, a number of international orga have an informal, prudential, or traditional basis.4 nizations now monitor how well these standards are met; For the sake of economy and comparison, these forms, indeed, some countries even consider them when formu characteristics, and rules are usually bundled together and lating foreign policy.2 given a generic label. Democratic is one; others are auto cratic, authoritarian, despotic, dictatorial, tyrannical, total itarian, absolutist, traditional, monarchic, obligarchic, WHAT DEMOCRACY IS plutocratic, aristocratic, and sultanistic.5 Each of these re Let us begin by broadly defining democracy and the ge gime forms may in turn be broken down into subtypes. neric conceptsthat distinguish it as a unique system for or Like all regimes, democracies depend upon the pres ganizing relations between rulers and the ruled. We will ence of rulers, persons who occupy specialized authority then briefly review procedures, the rules and arrange roles and can give legitimate commands to others. What ments that are needed if democracy is to endure. Finally, distinguishes democratic rulers from nondemocratic ones we will discuss two operative principles that make democ are the norms that condition how the former come to

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