DOCSLIB.ORG

Authoritarian Regime Types, Political and Socio-Economic Outcomes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Authoritarian Regime Types, Political and Socio-Economic Outcomes Authoritarian Regime Types, Political and Socio-Economic Outcomes, and Democratic Survival Huang-Ting Yan A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Government University of Essex Year of Award: 2020 1 Summary This dissertation addresses the question of which factors shape outcomes in autocratic regimes, and, in turn, what influences the survival of democratic regimes in light of their authoritarian legacies. I argue that regimes which are able to curtail the dictator’s powers, compared to uncontested autocracies, are associated with better institutional and socio-economic outcomes during the authoritarian rule as well as a higher survival rate upon transition to democracy. The first two papers of this dissertation provide evidence that regimes where the leader’s power is constrained either by an organised opposition or by a strong regime party are more likely to have an independent judiciary and experience higher levels of health expenditure. A third paper provides evidence that the mechanisms which protect contested autocracies also lay the foundation for an institutional framework in which the subsequent democratic regimes are more likely to survive. This dissertation offers a mixed-methods approach to confirm the three arguments. In conclusion, only with checks and balances in place, those in power can stay humble, take care of people, and promote good governance, compared to the ruler with unlimited power. 2 1. INTRODUCTION This dissertation addresses the question of which factors shape outcomes in autocratic regimes, which, in turn, influence the survival of democratic regimes in light of their authoritarian legacies. To explain the difference in the lifespan of young democracies, scholars have compiled a list of causal factors and their mechanisms that affect these democracies. These seminal works, however, ignored the influence of antecedent authoritarian rule on these explanatory factors. Although many studies have explored the lasting effects of preceding authoritarian regimes on political dynamics in new democracies, little is known about their effect on the survival of these democracies. To fill this research gap, the present dissertation combines two dimensions of research and explores how the legacy of the previous authoritarian regime influences the survival of subsequent democracies. Many nascent democracies have emerged from authoritarian regimes, the influence of which shapes their institutions, party politics, and social structure. It is thus reasonable to infer that political outcomes during the period of autocratic rule affect the survival of ensuing democracies. Furthermore, scholars have analysed how the political outcomes, shaped by distinct dictatorships, affect autocratic survival (Boix and Svolik 2013; Gandhi 2008; Gandhi and Przeworski 2007; Levitsky and Way 2012; Magaloni 2008; Roberts 2015; Slater and Wong 2013; Wright and Escribà-Folch 2012). We consider that after the democratisation of an authoritarian regime, these political outcomes become divergent legacies, which, in turn, determine the longevity of ensuing democracies. Figure 1 presents the framework of my basic ideas. 3 Figure 1 Framework for Analysing the Survival of Nascent Democracies Distinct Political Legacies The Survival of dictatorships Outcomes Nascent Democracies Source: the author. Existing research has explored the lasting effects of preceding authoritarian regimes on new democracies in terms of party politics (Dinas and Northmore-Ball 2020; Frantz and Geddes 2016; Grzymala-Busse 2002, 2006, 2007; Hicken and Kuhonta 2011; Kitschelt 1995; Riedl 2014), which relates to democratic survival. Scholars have associated post-authoritarian party politics with the following: (1) how preceding dictators shape party politics, and how these party configurations are inherited by subsequent democracies (Frantz and Geddes 2016; Hicken and Kuhonta 2011), and (2) how dictators dominate or develop distinct strategies for political transition (Grzymala-Busse 2006; Kitschelt 1995; Riedl 2014). Here, two points merit further discussion. First, no comparative study other than Grzymala-Busse (2007) has examined the interplay between authoritarian successor parties (ASPs), defined as former ruling parties or parties newly created by high-level authoritarian incumbents in preceding ruling parties in response to democratic transitions (Loxton 2015: 158-159), and their opponents. For example, when a dictator seeks to co-opt local elites, dominating transitional politics and limiting electoral competition, the high barrier to entry during the transition period causes the opposition to cooperate, which leads to higher party system institutionalisation (Riedl 2014). This argument, however, fails to explain why these ‘anti-incumbent alliances’ 4 do not lose the incentive to remain united even after winning the battle. A possible explanation is that there is no room for new ruling parties to be divided because ASPs are still veto players. In other words, ASPs achieving significant success in post-authoritarian politics can prevent fragmentation of the new ruling parties, thus reducing the likelihood of an unstable party system. Second, these seminal works introduce the concept of the hegemonic status of a dictator during democratic transitions into the study of the determinants of post-authoritarian party politics. The origin of the dictator’s dominant status, however, remains unclear. This is likely to be attributed to the fact that the dictator and his party possess and inherit substantial antecedent political strengths and resources. Therefore, this dissertation argues that the resources that old regime elites inherit determine the performance of the ASPs, which affects the post-authoritarian party system. Beyond the scope of party politics, alternative causal relationships are also possible. An independent judiciary, for example, aims to solve the incumbent leader’s commitment problems, thus laying a solid foundation for democratic durability (Reenock et al. 2013). That is, an independent judiciary has a monitoring function, helping the masses in the absence of information to observe the defection of leaders from agreements (Carrubba 2005), and a coordination function, allowing individuals to mobilise and challenge government action, raising the cost of transgression (Weingast 1997). An independent judiciary is also likely to deter executives from using a crisis situation as an opportunity to gain power by buttressing the political power of other regime elites and the opposition against executive incursions (Gibler 5 and Randazzo 2011). Thus, independent judiciaries decrease the likelihood of regime reversions toward authoritarianism. Since a democracy inherits legal institutions from its preceding authoritarian regime, this dissertation examines the origin of judicial independence in authoritarian regimes. This topic, except for a few seminal works (Epperly 2017; Ríos-Figueroa and Aguilar 2018), has not been considered comparatively. Democratic stability is enhanced when the government is held accountable to popular demands, especially through the provision of economic opportunities and public goods (Graham et al. 2017), partly because greater public goods provision leads to a more engaged and supportive civil society. Existing research has argued that expenditure on healthcare provision significantly improves population health status (Alisa et al. 2014; Nixon and Ulmann 2006; Novignon et al. 2012), which encourages political participation of citizens (Burden et al. 2017; Mattila and Papageorgiou 2017; Mattila et al. 2013). Participation in democratic decision-making processes, in turn, helps citizens strengthen their democratic political attitudes (Quintelier and van Deth 2014). Similar to the judicial institution, the current level of health expenditure (and thus the provision of health care) in democracies depends on the past levels in an authoritarian regime. To my knowledge, although recent research has examined the determinants of health expenditure from the perspective of political economy, such as political regime types, characteristics, and transitions (Bousmah et al. 2016; Kotera and Okada 2017); the ideology of governing parties, opposition parties, and the electorate (Bellido et al. 2019; 6 Datta 2020); fiscal decentralisation or regions with particular fiscal arrangements (Arends 2017; Prieto and Lago-Peñas 2014); women’s political representation (Clayton and Zetterberg 2018; Mavisakalyan 2014), there is a lack of comparative studies on how governance types influence health expenditure and cross-national analyses of authoritarian regimes. Therefore, this dissertation examines the determinants of health expenditure in dictatorships. In sum, this dissertation examines the determinants of judicial independence and health spending in dictatorships, both of which affect the longevity of succeeding democracies, and revisits the pathway that links preceding authoritarian regimes and post-authoritarian party politics to the survival of subsequent democracies. Figure 2 presents the research question. Figure 2 The Research Question Judicial independence Distinct Post The Survival of dictatorships -authoritarian Nascent party politics Democracies Health expenditure Note: thick line: known relationship and not the primary focus of the dissertation; thin line: unknown relationship and the core research question. Source: the author. 7 2. CONTESTED AND UNCONTESTED AUTOCRACIES To analyse the dynamics of dictatorships,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Côte D'ivoire
    CÔTE D’IVOIRE COI Compilation August 2017 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Regional Representation for West Africa - RSD Unit UNHCR Côte d’Ivoire UNHCR Regional Representation for West Africa - RSD Unit UNHCR Côte d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire COI Compilation August 2017 This report collates country of origin information (COI) on Côte d’Ivoire up to 15 August 2017 on issues of relevance in refugee status determination for Ivorian nationals. The report is based on publicly available information, studies and commentaries. It is illustrative, but is neither exhaustive of information available in the public domain nor intended to be a general report on human-rights conditions. The report is not conclusive as to the merits of any individual refugee claim. All sources are cited and fully referenced. Users should refer to the full text of documents cited and assess the credibility, relevance and timeliness of source material with reference to the specific research concerns arising from individual applications. UNHCR Regional Representation for West Africa Immeuble FAALO Almadies, Route du King Fahd Palace Dakar, Senegal - BP 3125 Phone: +221 33 867 62 07 Kora.unhcr.org - www.unhcr.org Table of Contents List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 4 1 General Information ....................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Historical background ............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Kebijakan Luar Negeri Qatar Dalam Memberikan Dukungan Terhadap National Transitional Council (Ntc) Terkait Krisis Politik Di Libya (2011-2012)
    KEBIJAKAN LUAR NEGERI QATAR DALAM MEMBERIKAN DUKUNGAN TERHADAP NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL (NTC) TERKAIT KRISIS POLITIK DI LIBYA (2011-2012) Skripsi Diajukan Untuk Memenuhi Persyaratan Memperoleh Gelar Sarjana Sosial (S.Sos) Oleh: Rahmi Kamilah 1110113000050 PROGRAM STUDI HUBUNGAN INTERNASIONAL FAKULTAS ILMU SOSIAL DAN ILMU POLITIK UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA JAKARTA 2014 PERNYATAAN BEBAS PLAGIARISME Skripsi yang berjudul: KEBIJAKAN LUAR NEGERI QATAR DALAM MEMBERIKAN DUKUNGAN TERHADAP PIHAK NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL COUNCIL (NTC) TERKAIT KRISIS POLITIK DI LIBYA (2011-2012) 1. Merupakan hasil karya saya yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu persyaratan memperoleh gelar Strata 1 di Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. 2. Semua sumber yang saya gunakan dalam penulisan ini telah saya cantumkan sesuai dengan ketentuan yang berlaku di Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. 3. Jika di kemudian hari terbukti bahwa karya saya ini bukan hasil karya asli saya atau merupakan hasil jiplakan dari karya orang lain, maka saya bersedia menerima sanksi yang berlaku di Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. Jakarta, 23 Oktober 2014 Rahmi Kamilah ii iii iv ABSTRAKSI Skripsi ini menganalisa tentang kebijakan luar negeri Qatar terkait krisis politik di Libya pada periode 2011-2012. Skripsi ini bertujuan untuk melihat faktor apa saja yang mendorong Qatar untuk memberikan dukungan kepada pihak oposisi dalam krisis politik di Libya. Sumber data yang diperoleh untuk melengkapi penulisan skripsi ini ialah melalui pengumpulan studi kepustakaan. Dalam skripsi ini ditemukan bahwa fenomena Arab Spring yang terjadi di Timur Tengah berdampak luas terhadap perpolitikan kawasan tersebut. Salah satu faktor utama yang mendorong gerakan revolusi ialah permasalahan ekonomi. Qatar, sebagai negara dengan pertumbuhan ekonomi yang tinggi menjadi salah satu negara kawasan yang tidak mengalami revolusi tersebut.
    [Show full text]
  • Marxism, Stalinism, and the Juche Speech of 1955: on the Theoretical De-Stalinization of North Korea
    Marxism, Stalinism, and the Juche Speech of 1955: On the Theoretical De-Stalinization of North Korea Alzo David-West This essay responds to the argument of Brian Myers that late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung’s Juche speech of 1955 is not nationalist (or Stalinist) in any meaningful sense of the term. The author examines the literary formalist method of interpretation that leads Myers to that conclusion, considers the pro- grammatic differences of orthodox Marxism and its development as “Marx- ism-Leninism” under Stalinism, and explains that the North Korean Juche speech is not only nationalist, but also grounded in the Stalinist political tradi- tion inaugurated in the Soviet Union in 1924. Keywords: Juche, Nationalism, North Korean Stalinism, Soviet Stalinism, Socialism in One Country Introduction Brian Myers, a specialist in North Korean literature and advocate of the view that North Korea is not a Stalinist state, has advanced the argument in his Acta Koreana essay, “The Watershed that Wasn’t” (2006), that late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung’s Juche speech of 1955, a landmark document of North Korean Stalinism authored two years after the Korean War, “is not nationalist in any meaningful sense of the term” (Myers 2006:89). That proposition has far- reaching historical and theoretical implications. North Korean studies scholars such as Charles K. Armstrong, Adrian Buzo, Seong-Chang Cheong, Andrei N. Lankov, Chong-Sik Lee, and Bala、zs Szalontai have explained that North Korea adhered to the tactically unreformed and unreconstructed model of nationalist The Review of Korean Studies Volume 10 Number 3 (September 2007) : 127-152 © 2007 by the Academy of Korean Studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Esi Document Id 128.Pdf
    Generation Facebook in Baku Adnan, Emin and the Future of Dissent in Azerbaijan Berlin – Istanbul 15 March 2011 “... they know from their own experience in 1968, and from the Polish experience in 1980-1981, how suddenly a society that seems atomized, apathetic and broken can be transformed into an articulate, united civil society. How private opinion can become public opinion. How a nation can stand on its feet again. And for this they are working and waiting, under the ice.” Timothy Garton Ash about Charter 77 in communist Czechoslovakia, February 1984 “How come our nation has been able to transcend the dilemma so typical of defeated societies, the hopeless choice between servility and despair?” Adam Michnik, Letter from the Gdansk Prison, July 1985 Table of contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... I Cast of Characters .......................................................................................................................... II 1. BIRTHDAY FLOWERS ........................................................................................................ 1 2. A NEW GENERATION ......................................................................................................... 4 A. Birth of a nation .............................................................................................................. 4 B. How (not) to make a revolution .....................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Voter Alignments in a Dominant Party System: the Cleavage Structures of the Russian Federation
    Voter alignments in a dominant party system: The cleavage structures of the Russian Federation. Master’s Thesis Department of Comparative Politics November 2015 Ivanna Petrova Abstract This thesis investigates whether there is a social cleavage structure across the Russian regions and whether this structure is mirrored in the electoral vote shares for Putin and his party United Russia on one hand, versus the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and its leader Gennady Zyuganov on the other. In addition to mapping different economic, demographic and cultural factors affecting regional vote shares, this thesis attempts to determine whether there is a party system based on social cleavages in Russia. In addition, as the Russian context is heavily influenced by the president, this thesis investigates whether the same cleavages can explain the distribution of vote shares during the presidential elections. Unemployment, pensioners, printed newspapers and ethnicity create opposing effects during parliamentary elections, while distance to Moscow, income, pensioners, life expectancy, printed newspapers and ethnicity created opposing effects during the presidential elections. The first finding of this thesis is not only that the Russian party system is rooted in social cleavages, but that it appears to be based on the traditional “left-right” cleavage that characterizes all Western industrialized countries. In addition, despite the fact that Putin pulls voters from all segments of the society, the pattern found for the party system persists during presidential elections. The concluding finding shows that the main political cleavage in today’s Russia is between the left represented by the communists and the right represented by the incumbents.
    [Show full text]
  • "Mostly Propaganda in Nature": Kim Il Sung, the Juche Ideology, and The
    NORTH KOREA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION PROJECT WORKING PAPER #3 THE NORTH KOREA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTATION PROJECT WORKING PAPER SERIES Christian F. Ostermann and James F. Person, Series Editors This paper is one of a series of Working Papers published by the North Korea International Documentation Project of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Established in 2006 by a grant from the Korea Foundation, and in cooperation with the University of North Korean Studies (Seoul), the North Korea International Documentation Project (NKIDP) addresses the scholarly and policymaking communities’ critical need for reliable information on the North Korean political system and foreign relations by widely disseminating newly declassified documents on the DPRK from the previously inaccessible archives of Pyongyang’s former communist allies. With no history of diplomatic relations with Pyongyang and severely limited access to the country’s elite, it is difficult to for Western policymakers, journalists, and academics to understand the forces and intentions behind North Korea’s actions. The diplomatic record of North Korea’s allies provides valuable context for understanding DPRK policy. Among the activities undertaken by the project to promote this aim are a section in the periodic Cold War International History Project BULLETIN to disseminate new findings, views, and activities pertaining to North Korea in the Cold War; a fellowship program for Korean scholars working on North Korea; international scholarly meetings, conferences, and seminars; and publications. The NKIDP Working Paper Series is designed to provide a speedy publications outlet for historians associated with the project who have gained access to newly- available archives and sources and would like to share their results.
    [Show full text]
  • RESULTS of PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - May 27, 1970 No of No of Total No
    RESULTS OF PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - May 27, 1970 No of No of Total No. of Votes No of No. and Name of Electoral District Name of the Elected Candidate Symbol allotted Votes Votes Polled including Registered Polled rejected rejected Electors 1 Colombo North V.A. Sugathadasa Elephant 20,930 97 44,511 Harris Wickremetunge Chair 13,783 W.I.A. Corsby Fernando Ship 164 A.S. Jayamaha Cockerel 97 2 Colombo Central R. Premadasa Elephant 69,310 5,491 240,597 99,265 Falil Caffoor Chair 63,624 Pieter Keuneman Star 58,557 M. Haleem Ishak Hand 41,716 C. Durairajah Umbrella 783 M. Haroun Careem Bell 413 Poopathy Saravanamuttu Ship 396 Panangadan Raman Krishnan Pair of Scales 307 3 Borella Kusala Abhayawardana (Mrs.) Key 16,421 50 32,810 42,849 M.H. Mohamed Elephant 15,829 M.A. Mansoor Pair of Scales 510 4 Colombo South J.R. Jayawardena Elephant 57,609 1,134 97,928 66,136 Bernard Soysa Key 36,783 Ratnasabapathy Wijaya Indra Eye 1,166 Ariyadasa Peiris Bell 561 A.S. Jayamaha Cockerel 241 Mudalige Justin Perera Flower 165 Joseph Beling Chair 164 Yathiendradasa Manampery Pair of Scales 105 5 Wattala A.D.J.L. Leo Hand 21,856 106 41,629 48,875 D. Shelton Jayasinghe Elephant 19,667 6 Negombo Denzil Fernando Elephant 20,457 132 36,509 44,284 Justin Fernando Hand 15,920 RESULTS OF PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - May 27, 1970 No of No of Total No. of Votes No of No. and Name of Electoral District Name of the Elected Candidate Symbol allotted Votes Votes Polled including Registered Polled rejected rejected Electors 7 Katana K.C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of Executive Constraints Across Sub-Saharan Africa
    REINING IN THE BIG MEN: THE POLITICS OF EXECUTIVE CONSTRAINTS ACROSS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Kristin Alisa McKie January 2012 © 2012 Kristin Alisa McKie REINING IN THE BIG MEN: THE POLITICS OF EXECUTIVE CONSTRAINTS ACROSS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Kristin Alisa McKie, Ph. D. Cornell University 2012 Under what conditions does the rule of law, especially with regards to the constraining of executive power, become institutionalized in newly liberalized countries where presidential authority has historically been greatly unchecked? This dissertation explores this puzzle by exploring two inter-related questions: first, why would a longtime ruling party acquiesce to institutional constraints being placed on the executive in the first place, and second, once implemented, why are these institutional rules able to successfully constrain leaders in some sub-Saharan states but not others? To address both questions, my dissertation investigates variation in the adoption of, and later adherence to, executive term limit laws and other constraints on presidential power across Africa. Based on both a medium-n quantitative analysis and extensive qualitative interview and archival data collected during eleven months of fieldwork in Uganda and Zambia, I construct an explanation that challenges previous assumptions about the development of constitutionalism in liberalizing countries. I argue that, due to the rarity of divided governments across sub-Saharan Africa, members of parliament from the ruling party ultimately choose whether or not to restrain executive tenure based on their perceptions of their party’s (and, therefore, their own) electoral competitiveness.
    [Show full text]
  • Hazards and Protest in the “Green Silicon Island” the Struggle for Visibility of Industrial Hazards in Contemporary Taiwan
    China Perspectives 2010/3 | 2010 Taiwan: The Consolidation of a Democratic and Distinct Society Hazards and Protest in the “Green Silicon Island” The Struggle for Visibility of Industrial Hazards in Contemporary Taiwan Paul Jobin Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/5302 DOI : 10.4000/chinaperspectives.5302 ISSN : 1996-4617 Éditeur Centre d'étude français sur la Chine contemporaine Édition imprimée Date de publication : 15 septembre 2010 ISSN : 2070-3449 Référence électronique Paul Jobin, « Hazards and Protest in the “Green Silicon Island” », China Perspectives [En ligne], 2010/3 | 2010, mis en ligne le 01 septembre 2013, consulté le 28 octobre 2019. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/5302 ; DOI : 10.4000/chinaperspectives.5302 © All rights reserved Special Feature s e v Hazards and Protest in the i a t c n i e “Green Silicon Island” h p s c r The Struggle for Visibility of Industrial Hazards in Contemporary Taiwan e p PAUL JOBIN This paper presents the struggle of several actors, from environmental NGOs to labour activists, to make industrial hazards more socially visible. After an overview of the key issues in Taiwan’s environmental movement since the democratic transition of the mid-1980s, the second part focuses on labour NGOs, an original form of mobilisation pushing for reform of the compensation scheme for occupational hazards. The cases presented cover different industries—including nuclear, chemical, electronics, etc.—various pollutants, and their consequences on public health such as lung diseases diseases and cancers. n his inauguration address in 2000, the newly elected rior of work sites—be it a mine, an electronics factory, a nu - president Chen Shui-bian announced an ambitious proj - clear plant, a construction site, or the office of a Iect of converting Taiwan into a “Green Silicon Island” newspaper.
    [Show full text]
  • How Taiwan's Constitutional Court Reined in Police Power
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Fordham University School of Law Fordham International Law Journal Volume 37, Issue 4 2014 Article 10 How Taiwan’s Constitutional Court Reined in Police Power: Lessons for the People’s Republic of China Margaret K. Lewis∗ Jerome A. Coheny ∗Seton Hall University School of Law yNew York University School of Law Copyright c 2014 by the authors. Fordham International Law Journal is produced by The Berke- ley Electronic Press (bepress). http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj ARTICLE HOW TAIWAN’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT REINED IN POLICE POWER: LESSONS FOR THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA* Margaret K. Lewis & Jerome A. Cohen INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 864 I. THE LEGAL REGIME FOR PUNISHING LIUMANG ........... 866 II. STRUCTURE OF CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW ................. 871 III. INITIAL JUDICIAL INVOLVEMENT IN CURBING POLICE POWER ................................................................ 878 IV. INTERPRETATION NO. 636 ................................................ 882 A. Definition of Liumang and the Principle of Legal Clarity ........................................................................... 883 B. Power of the Police to Force Suspected Liumang to Appear .......................................................................... 891 C. Right to Be Heard by the Review Committee .............. 894 D. Serious Liumang: Procedures at the District Court Level .............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins and Development of Taiwan's Policies Toward The
    The Origins and Development of Taiwan’s Policies toward the Overseas Citizens’ Participation in Homeland Governance and Decision-Making Dean P. Chen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Political Science Ramapo College of New Jersey Presentations for the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law Stanford University February 28, 2014 How International Relations (IR) Theories Matter? • Second-image reversed (Peter Gourevitch, 1978) – International systemic changes affect domestic politics – Domestic political actors and institutions filter the effects of international conditions, resulting in changes of interests, coalitions, norms, ideas, identities and policies • Constructivist theory of argumentative persuasion (Thomas Risse, 2000) – Interests and identities can be changed through the social interactive processes of argumentation, deliberation, and persuasion Main Argument • The Republic of China (ROC)/Taiwan’s policies toward overseas constituents have always been closely aligned with the government’s diplomatic objectives – From KMT’s pan-Chinese nationalism to Taiwan’s desire for a greater international space and political autonomy • Transformations of international politics inevitably shape the domestic political situations in ROC/Taiwan, which, then, impact policies toward the overseas community • Despite facing a rising People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan’s democratization and rising Taiwanese consciousness have fostered a new set of identities, interests, and arguments that compete with Beijing’s “one China” principle
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy in Russia: Trends and Implications for U.S
    WikiLeaks Document Release http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL32662 February 2, 2009 Congressional Research Service Report RL32662 Democracy in Russia: Trends and Implications for U.S. Interests Jim Nichol, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division January 23, 2007 Abstract. assesses Russia’s progress in democratization, including in the areas of elections, media rights, civil society, and federalism. Four scenarios of possible future political developments are suggested - a continuation of the current situation of ”managed democracy,” deepening authoritarianism, further democratization, or a chaotic interlude - and evidence and arguments are weighed for each. Lastly, U.S. policy and implications for U.S. interests, congressional concerns, and issues for Congress are analyzed. Order Code RL32662 Democracy in Russia: Trends and Implications for U.S. Interests Updated January 23, 2007 Jim Nichol http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL32662 Specialist in Russian and Eurasian Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Democracy in Russia: Trends and Implications for U.S. Interests Summary U.S. attention has focused on Russia’s fitful democratization since Russia emerged in 1991 from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Many observers have argued that a democratic Russia with free markets would be a cooperative bilateral and multilateral partner rather than an insular and hostile national security threat. Concerns about democratization progress appeared heightened after Vladimir Putin became president in 2000. Since then, Russians have faced increased government interference in elections and campaigns, restrictions on freedom of the media, large- scale human rights abuses in the breakaway Chechnya region, and the forced breakup of Russia’s largest private oil firm, Yukos, as an apparent warning to entrepreneurs not to support opposition parties or otherwise challenge government policy.
    [Show full text]