Defining and Measuring Democracy

Defining and Measuring Democracy PDF Author: David Beetham
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9781446226186
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
The rapid worldwide phase of democratization since the 1980s has stimulated a renewed interest in how we define and measure democracy. The contributors to this volume include leading political theorists, political scientists and experts in comparative government from across Europe. Defining and Measuring Democracy offers an integrated analysis of key debates and issues ranging from the question of how to define democracy to the issue of cultural diversity. Each chapter offers new insights and approaches placed in the context of contemporary debates.

Defining and Measuring Democracy

Defining and Measuring Democracy PDF Author: David Beetham
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9781446226186
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
The rapid worldwide phase of democratization since the 1980s has stimulated a renewed interest in how we define and measure democracy. The contributors to this volume include leading political theorists, political scientists and experts in comparative government from across Europe. Defining and Measuring Democracy offers an integrated analysis of key debates and issues ranging from the question of how to define democracy to the issue of cultural diversity. Each chapter offers new insights and approaches placed in the context of contemporary debates.

Democratization and Research Methods

Democratization and Research Methods PDF Author: Michael Coppedge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521537274
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Democratization and Research Methods summarizes what researchers know about why countries become and remain democracies, and why they often do not. It also evaluates the various methods social scientists use to answer such questions. Michael Coppedge draws lessons that can be applied to any political phenomenon that is studied comparatively.

Measuring Democracy

Measuring Democracy PDF Author: Gerardo L. Munck
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801896509
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
Although democracy is a widely held value, concrete measurement of it is elusive. Gerardo L. Munck’s constructive assessment of the methods used to measure democracies promises to bring order to the debate in academia and in practice. Drawing on his years of academic research on democracy and measurement and his practical experience evaluating democratic practices for the United Nations and the Organization of American States, Munck's discussion bridges the theories of academia with practical applications. In proposing a more open and collaborative relationship between theory and action, he makes the case for reassessing how democracy is measured and encourages fundamental changes in methodology. Munck’s field-tested framework for quantifying and qualifying democracy is built around two instruments he developed: the UN Development Programme’s Electoral Democracy Index and a case-by-case election monitoring tool used by the OAS. Measuring Democracy offers specific, real-world lessons that scholars and practitioners can use to improve the quality and utility of data about democracy.

Requisites of Democracy

Requisites of Democracy PDF Author: Jørgen Møller
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136665838
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This book brings together the conceptual and theoretical writings of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert A. Dahl, Guillermo O’Donnell, and T. H. Marshall. It demonstrates that most of the different conceptions of democracy in the democratization literature can be ordered in one systematic regime typology that distinguishes between ‘thinner’ and ‘thicker’ definitions of democracy. The authors argue that the empirical pattern revealed by this typology is explained by the combination of internal structural constraints and international factors facilitating democracy. The result of such contending forces is that most of the democratizations in recent decades have only produced competitive elections, rather than ‘more demanding’ attributes of democracy such as political liberties, the rule of law, and social rights. Examining theoretical and empirical approaches to measuring, defining and understanding democracy, the book will be of interest to scholars of political theory and comparative politics in general and democratization studies in particular.

Defining and Measuring Social Cohesion

Defining and Measuring Social Cohesion PDF Author: Jane Jenson
Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat
ISBN: 9781849290234
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Examines the literature on social cohesion. Presentsa range of indicators that have been used to measure social cohesion.

In Search of Democracy

In Search of Democracy PDF Author: Larry Diamond
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317411366
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
This book evaluates the global status and prospects of democracy, with an emphasis on the quality of democratic institutions and the effectiveness of governance as key conditions for stable democracy. Bringing together a wide range of the author’s work over the past three decades, it advances a framework for assessing the quality of democracy and it analyzes alternative measures of democracy. Drawing on the most recent data from Freedom House, it assesses the global state of democracy and freedom, as of the beginning of 2015, and it explains why the world has been experiencing a mild but now deepening recession of democracy and freedom since 2005. A major theme of the book across the three decades of the author’s work is the relationship between democratic quality and stability. Democracies break down, Diamond argues, not so much because of economic factors but because of corrupt, inept governance that violates individual rights and the rule of law. The best way to secure democracy is to ensure that democracy is accountable, transparent, genuinely competitive, respectful of individual rights, inclusive of diverse forms and sources of participation, and responsive to the needs and aspirations of ordinary citizens. Viable democracy requires not only a state that can mobilize power to achieve collective goals, but also one that can restrain and punish the abuse of power—a particularly steep challenge for poor countries and those with natural resource wealth. The book examines these themes both in broad comparative perspective and with a deeper analysis of historical trends and future prospects in Africa and Asia,. Concluding with lessons for sustaining and reforming policies to promote democracy internationally, this book is essential reading for students and scholars interested in democracy, as well as politics and international relations more generally.

Democratization

Democratization PDF Author: Christian W. Haerpfer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198732287
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 515

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Book Description
Democratization is the first textbook to focus on the "global wave of democratization" that has been occurring since around 1970. Bringing together leading authors from diverse international backgrounds, it introduces students to the theoretical and practical dimensions of the subject in an authoritative, accessible, and systematic way. The book takes into account the international factors that affect politics at the level of the nation state, showing students the direction in which the discipline is moving. It is accompanied by an innovative companion website that provides numerous resources for students and instructors. Democratization covers several key themes including: 1. Theories of democratization and their relation to democratic theory; 2. Critical prerequisites and driving social forces of democratic transition; 3. Pivotal actors and institutions involved in democratization; 4. Conditions for democratic survival, the consolidation of newly democratized countries, and the analysis of failed democratization; 5. Demonstrations of how these factors have played a role in the different regions in which the global wave of democratization has transplaced authoritarian and communist systems; 6. Possible futures of democratization worldwide.

Varieties of Democracy

Varieties of Democracy PDF Author: Michael Coppedge
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781108440967
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Varieties of Democracy is the essential user's guide to The Varieties of Democracy project (V-Dem), one of the most ambitious data collection efforts in comparative politics. This global research collaboration sparked a dramatic change in how we study the nature, causes, and consequences of democracy. This book is ambitious in scope: more than a reference guide, it raises standards for causal inferences in democratization research and introduces new, measurable, concepts of democracy and many political institutions. Varieties of Democracy enables anyone interested in democracy - teachers, students, journalists, activists, researchers and others - to analyze V-Dem data in new and exciting ways. This book creates opportunities for V-Dem data to be used in education, research, news analysis, advocacy, policy work, and elsewhere. V-Dem is rapidly becoming the preferred source for democracy data.

Democracy in the Disinformation Age

Democracy in the Disinformation Age PDF Author: Regina Luttrell
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000390780
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
In this book established researchers draw on a range of theoretical and empirical perspectives to examine social media’s impact on American politics. Chapters critically examine activism in the digital age, fake news, online influence, messaging tactics, news transparency and authentication, consumers’ digital habits and ultimately the societal impacts that continue to be created by combining social media and politics. Through this book readers will better understand and approach with questions such as: • How exactly and why did social media become a powerful factor in politics? • What responsibilities do social networks have in the proliferation of factually wrong and hate-filled messages? Or should individuals be held accountable? • What are the state-of-the-art of computational techniques for measuring and determining social media's impact on society? • What role does online activism play in today’s political arena? • What does the potent combination of social media and politics truly mean for the future of democracy? The insights and debates found herein provide a stronger understanding of the core issues and steer us toward improved curriculum and research aimed at a better democracy. Democracy in the Disinformation Age: Influence and Activism in American Politics will appeal to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics with an interest in areas including political science, media studies, mass communication, PR, and journalism.

Power Diffusion and Democracy

Power Diffusion and Democracy PDF Author: Julian Bernauer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108606482
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
Departing from the established literature connecting the political-institutional patterns of democracy with the quality of democracy, this book acknowledges that democracies, if they can be described as such, come in a wide range of formats. At the conceptual and theoretical level, the authors make an argument based on deliberation, redrawing power diffusion in terms of the four dimensions of proportionality, decentralisation, presidentialism and direct democracy, and considering the potential interactions between these aspects. Empirically, they assemble data on sixty-one democracies between 1990 and 2015 to assess the performance and legitimacy of democracy. Their findings demonstrate that while, for example, proportional power diffusion is associated with lower income inequality, there is no simple institutional solution to all societal problems. This book explains contemporary levels of power diffusion, their potential convergence and their manifestation at the subnational level in democracies including the United States, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.