The Crisis of
Democracy?
Lecture 24
Democratization and democracy
• Why are social scientists interested in studying the transition to democracy?
• First, as an objective phenomenon, it has happened in many different countries at different times.
• Second, the attraction of democracy both as a normative idea and good consequences of governances caused by, or
associated with, democracy such as higher living standard and economic wealth.
• The instability of some newly established democratic countries such as Myanmar does not necessarily
affect the confidence in democracy in general.
• The increasing indifference to and dissatisfaction with democracy among citizens of the well-established
democracies such as USA and Western European countries is a bit surprising and alarming.
• One assumption in the Schumpeterian minimalist conception of democracy is that the elected
government can govern competently: the focus is on the fairness and competitiveness of election.
The basic predicates of democracy
• Fair and competitive elections
• Political parties as the core of representative democracy: what if more people feel that traditional political parties
cannot represent themselves?
• Liberal rights of speech and association:
• Liberal rights to economic justice or private property?
• Extending liberal rights in non-economic dimension: the rights to minority culture that is not liberal; LGBT rights,
etc.
• The tension between liberalism and democracy in an age of globalization.
• The rule of law:
• Whether the judicial system is going to lose its independence and becomes the tool of partisan political struggles.
Erosion of traditional party systems:
Radical Right parties as threats to
democracy?
• In the post-war democracy in the West, radical Right parties remained electorally insignificant until
recent decades.
• The tragedy of fascism brought by radical parties was a fresh memory.
• The erosion of traditional party systems raised a question of whether the current representative system
“truly represents the will of the people”.
• The crises of representation and the vibrant civil society in interwar Europe that gave birth to the rise of fascism.
• Are today’s radical Right parties in developed democracies similar to predecessors of fascism in interwar
Europe?
• Whether they appeal to hate of the “alien members” to redefine the category of the “people”: the German nation
without Jews for example.
• Whether they appeal to violence or legal methods to restrict the alien elements in the national culture (cultural
assimilation rather than multiculturalism).
Average electoral support for radical
Right parties
Vote shares of parties in OECD
countries
Radical Right parties as symptoms
of democracy in crises?
• Electoral support for radical Right parties remained high (over 20 %) in Switzerland, Austria,
France, and Denmark.
• Radical Right parties gained strength only most recently in Norway, Sweden, and Germany.
• The main programs of radical Right parties:
• Anti-immigration and nationalist: defensive in terms of unwillingness to permit immigrants to share the
generous social services and the job opportunities.
• Xenophobic and racist: discrimination of cultures of immigrants
• Not necessarily against democracy but as a demand to redefine the category of the “people” in
democracy:
• Immigrants or outsiders should not be included as the people in nationally defined practices of democracy.
Declining turnout in elections
Reasons of declining turnout
• Central-left or central right voters:
• Not happy with traditional parties yet do not support extreme parties such as radical Right
parties:
• Low trust of politicians: self-serving, dishonest, corrupt, and incompetent.
• The low turnout among central voters (from both left and right) contributes to the
increasing proportion of votes to radical Right Parties.
• Supporters for radical Right Parties are more motivated to turnout to vote.
• Should we take this as a sign of democracy in crisis?
• Not in perfect health does not mean in crisis:
January 12, 2023 Congressman Schiff, Bipartisan
Group Introduces Act to Ban Members of Congress
& Their Families from Trading Individual Stocks
• Today, U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), along with 35 of their
colleagues, introduced a bipartisan bill requiring Members of Congress — as well as their spouses and
dependent children — to put certain investment assets into a qualified blind trust during their entire tenure in
Congress, effectively banning them from trading individual stocks.
• “We are long overdue for a vote on legislation to ban Members of Congress and their spouses from trading
individual stocks. Last Congress, we saw the TRUST in Congress Act receive the most bipartisan support of any
effort to do so. … Our TRUST in Congress Act would demonstrate that lawmakers are focused on serving the
interests of the American people — not their own stock portfolios.”
• “At a time when over 70 percent of Americans believe members of Congress hold an unfair advantage in the
stock market, TPA applauds Rep. Abigail Spanberger and Rep. Chip Roy for reintroducing the TRUST In
Congress Act. Requiring members to place securities, commodities, futures, and other comparable
investments into qualified blind trusts while serving the American people is a strong step towards restoring the
public’s faith in government,” said Patrick Hedger, Executive Director, Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA).
Economic factors to the “crisis of
democracy”?
Disconnection between productivity
and worker’s compensation in OECD
countries
Political polarization in USA
Threat to democracy
Disappointment with democracy vs
support for alternatives of
democracy Diminishing beliefs of young generation
• The survey results of young people
reducing belief in democracy, such as
endorsing “not essential to live in
democracy.” [Foa and Mounk, 2016, p. 7]
• Diverse interpretations:
• No comparative living experience in a non-
democracy.
Chinese young generation/ students living in Shanghai after lockdown
or HK case of national laws
• Cynical attitudes toward democracy or to
express disappointment with governing
performance of democracy.
but for those haven't experienced these living experiences, cynical attitudes might be the case
Alternatives? Facism(quite common in world war period/ post war)? Communism? (China's mode is quite common in Africa)
Legitimacy? values? viewed as special phenomenon(with no serious consequences) or crisis of democracy
Neo-liberalism since the 1980s and
globalization since the 1990s
• Neo-liberalism emphasizing the rights to private property rather than the rights to welfare and
social services
• To lower taxes on capital and income and reduce the state’s welfare spending.
• To reduce the collective bargaining power of the trade unions: wages and benefits of workers.
• To lift restrictions of the cross-border capital mobility: financial liberalization and globalization.
Depend on the average quality of life of people and income inequality
• Economic globalization: democratic government is highly constrained in their economic policy
• Relocation of manufacturing from developed countries to developing countries with lower labor costs (both
wages and welfare of workers).
• The remaining service jobs in developing countries are lower paid compared with jobs in manufacturing, these
jobs could be taken by immigrants as well.
maybe increasing economic inequalities, e.g. financial jobs vs low pay jobs like bartender
National border of democracy vs.
globalization
Things that happen outside of national border and how to engage with these issues?
Traditional party decline because they cannot respond to the economic globalization?
• Some crucial economic policies are out of the control of a nationally elected government in
democratic countries
• Member countries of European Union: no national autonomy in monetary policies for example.
• The support for democracy in survey dropped significantly in Greece and Spain after the crisis of 2008: the
anti-inflationary monetary policies of EU caused severe deflation to Greece and worsened its debt burden.
• The nationally elected government in democratic countries are less likely to implement policies
against the interests of global capital: such as higher taxes and more social spending
• A crucial cause for the declining of traditional leftist party, including the Social Democratic Parties.
• The general electorate in democracies does not have much knowledge in foreign policies:
• The typical case of USA and NATO: the massive military spending of USA is determined by elite politicians from
the perspective of serving the USA global power This issue is detached with economic interests and thus mobilizing people
Threat to MNCs or globalization but not necessarily democracy, e.g. Trump's case to cause backlash of globalization
Information and misinformation in
democracy
• The liberal rights of free speech and association and its relevancy to democracy
• Information of each citizens crucial to their voting decision should remain relatively independent from the
control of government and political parties.
Information is free or being controlled? (depends on Mass media)
- most of the democratic countries have little knowledge about other countries
• Yet information related to foreign countries, particularly foreign competing countries, can be
manipulated by the government.
• The vast majority citizens in a democratic country do not have the necessary language skills and knowledge of
history or geography to understand a foreign country.
• Their knowledge about a foreign country is acquired through mass media and mass entertainment.
• The survey result of citizens’ attitudes toward a foreign country is to a large extent determined by
the information of that country in the mass media and mass entertainment.
• The image of China in the USA as an example.
Crisis of democracy or conflicts
between liberalism and democracy?
• Liberalism and democracy remained separate concepts for a long time and only become
converged as a liberal democracy in the twentieth-century:
• Liberalism that emphasizes enlightenment is often suspicious of democracy when the majority of citizens
endorse traditional values or traditional religion.
• The balance between the elite-oriented liberalism and the majoritarian principle of democracy.
• The concept of “illiberal democracy”:
• A democracy that meets the condition of fair and competitive elections yet does not promote the idea of
liberal rights to LGBT and immigrants (no multiculturalism):
• The concept of liberal authoritarianism:
• A government that promote secular liberal values and rights yet did not give voting rights to the people as
most of them would vote for the candidates of traditional values or religions.
Thesis of “crisis of democracy” and
the prospect of democratization.
• Would the phenomenon of “crisis of democracy” be used by the authoritarian
government to discourage the efforts to democratization?
• Would the phenomenon of “crisis of democracy” provides less motivation for
political activists in the authoritarian regime to push for democratization?
• What might be the consequence of the foreign policy of major power such as
USA on the prospect of democratization of another major power such as China?
• Anti-American Chinese nationalism as an issue to mobilize the vast majority of voters in a
hypothetical democracy in China?
The analytic essay topic
• Shall the theory that accounts for the transition to democracy also be able to explain whether the
newly established democracy would stable or not? Use specific examples of democratization
theories to illustrate whether they can or cannot explain both the transition and stability of
democracy.
• Your essay should have an introduction paragraph to briefly outline the argument of the essay,
followed by the main part of argumentation, and ends with a conclusion.
• Your essay should have a title.
• Length of the essay: 8 pages (double spaced), Times New Roman, font 12.
• Due date: 10 May, 11 pm
The empirical essay topic: Hong
Kong in a hypothetic situation
• Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Therefore, the meaning of democracy in Hong Kong is
referred to the making of socio-economic policies of Hong Kong is determined by a representative government
produced regularly though fair and competitive elections. Assume a hypothetic situation in which there is a
Schumpeterian minimalist democracy adopted in Hong Kong, what will happen to Hong Kong? Your discussion
should be based upon the existing socio-economic situation of Hong Kong, and apply the theories that we
have discussed in class. You may choose which theory and how to apply to the case of Hong Kong.
• Your essay should have an introduction paragraph to briefly outline the argument of the essay, followed by the
main part of argumentation, and ends with a conclusion.
• Your essay should have a title.
• Length of the essay: 10 pages (double spaced), Times New Roman, font 12.
• Due date: 10 May, 11 pm
