Industrialized Democracies

“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others.”

Winston Churchill

“When the people fear the government there is tyranny. When the government fears the people there is liberty.”

Thomas Jefferson

Presentation Outline

1) Evolution of Democracy (Review)

2) 6 features of Industrialized Democracies

3) Quantitative Measures of Industrialized Democracies

4) Post-materialism

1) The Evolution of Democracy Democracy which means ‘rule by the

people’ can be traced back to ancient Greece (over 3000 years ago)

Democracy in the modern state emerges in the Seventeenth century in England

The liberal democracies we have today have taken over 300 years to evolve, through the industrial revolution, revolutions, civil wars, and world wars

2) Key Features of Industrialized Democracies Political freedoms The rule of law Transparency Competitive, fair, and free elections Strong civil society Capitalist, wealthy

Political freedoms Basic freedoms such as freedom of the

press, religion, association, and speech are normally guaranteed in a state’s constitution such as in the United States, France, and Germany

The U.K. which has a long political culture of democracy is the one exception of a state without a written guarantee of freedoms in a constitution

Rule of Law Both elites (those in government) and the

public accept the laws of the state

No one is above the law and this establishes rational-legal legitimacy in the regime

Many democracies such as the United States and Canada have judicial review, which means that the courts have the power to overturn laws if they violate the constitution.

Transparency Democracies have high levels of

transparency meaning that they are accountable to citizens through elections, the courts, petitions, protests etc.

Higher transparency generally means lower corruption

Competitive, fair, and free elections No democracy can call itself one unless all

its adult citizens have the right and access to vote for leaders of the government

Competitive means that citizens have more than one option regarding the choice of political parties

There are few if any restrictions on who can run for office, and which parties can compete

It’s a competition of ideas- with the people deciding

Civil Society Democracies have vibrant civil societies,

that is political and social organizations outside the government

This includes joining environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, Chambers of Commerce, and organizing petitions, protests, and demonstrations

Greenpeace demonstration

Strong Interest Groups Interests groups are formed by citizens to

influence the public policies of the government– this is called interest articulation

Interest groups include: religious organizations, industry, labor, women’s groups etc.

Interest groups in Industrialized democracies are generally pluralist which means multiple groups compete to influence gov’t policy

Industrialized Democracies tend to have higher GDP per capita, living standards, and economic growth

Most industrialized democracies have a market economy which allows for private ownership, and encourages investment

Economic decisions are generally made on a supply and demand basis (free market)

Capitalist and wealthy

GDP per capita comparison table (2011)- Source: www.cia-factbook.gov

Quantitative Measures of Industrialized Democracies

State GDP per capita $ (PPP)

United States 46,000

United Kingdom 35, 100

Russia 14, 700

Mexico 12, 800

Iran 10, 600

China 5, 300

Human Development Index (HDI): a measure of a country’s standard of living, including factors such as health and education.

United States .939United Kingdom .936Mexico .802Russia .795China .745Iran .732Nigeria .466

source: www. cia-factbook.gov

Industrialized Democracies generally have higher income equality than authoritarian statesGini index: a mathematical formula that measure the amount of economic inequality in a society; its scale ranges from 0 to 100, where 0 corresponds to perfect equality and 100 to perfect inequality.

(welfare state)- United Kingdom .360United States .408Iran .430China .447Russia .456Mexico .546Nigeria .506

Source: www. cia-factbook.gov

In industrialized democracies most citizens are educated and work in the tertiary sector (services): education, banking, business, law, research, etc.

In developing states, the majority of citizens are employed in the primary sector, mostly agriculture (see Nepal below)

Post-materialist societies Industrialized democracies have recently

evolved into post-materialist societies which means that citizens are increasingly more concerned with non-material wealth and happiness such as a clean environment, more public parks, good public schools etc. (called public goods)

In contrast, societies which are in the midst of industrializing such as Russia, Mexico, and China are materialist societies, are said to be concerned primarily with economic growth and consumerism: buying cars, homes etc.

After a certain point, money may not buy “happiness”

World “Happiness” Rankings Do you see any correlations?

Happiness and Democracy

Post-material values