Democratization is the most comprehensive volume on this critical field of contemporary politics, with insightful coverage of the key theories, actors, dynamics, and developments. This authoritative guide brings together leading experts from diverse international backgrounds, including some of the best known names in the field, making it an invaluable resource to students of democratization. This second edition reflects the dramatic changes in today's political world, with empirical coverage of developments on every continent. It considers the role of new technologies, including a dedicated chapter on social media and democratization, as well as the resilience of authoritarianism and renewed antidemocratic tendencies in many parts of the world.
Cover -- Copyright page -- Title page -- Foreword to the 2020 Edition -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Series Editors' Preface -- Introduction: From Totalitarianism to Democracy in Malawi -- Part One -- Political and Economic Dimensions -- 1. The Mwanza Trial as a Search for a Usable Malawian Past -- The Mwanza Trial from the Government's Perspective -- MCP and the Mwanza Murders -- The Events: Who was Conspiring? -- Conclusion -- 2. Democracy, Ethnicity, and Regionalism: The Malawian Experience, 1992-1996 -- Concepts: Their Definition and Relevance
Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has progressed toward one of Asia's most advanced democracies. This paper looks at the historical and socio-political circumstances and traces the global and domestic factors behind the transformation. Assuming that advanced levels of democratic governance can only be obtained through mediated social control over the state and the economy, the study explores whether democratic values and norms have become internalized and identifies the current caveats of further democratic development. More specifically, the paper argues that although Taiwan's democratization has been caused by external sovereignty-related factors, the discourse on national identity has repoliticzed the public political realm after decades of authoritarianism and led to the habitualization of democratic values and norms. The paper concludes with an assessment of the prospects for comprehensive and inclusive public participation in the shaping of Taiwan's political conditions. (Asian Aff/GIGA)
In 2019, Thailand represents the case of an Asian country overshadowed by authoritarian forces, though it has time and again experienced attempts at democratization. This paper argues that democracy remains deficient in Thailand because, though there have been enormous advances in terms of the economy, social improvements and state stability, political space remains elusive and dominated by the monarchy and military. State formation in Thailand is a function of how entrenched social stratification has been reflected in a highly skewed distribution of economic resources. The paper asks the following five questions: First, why has Thailand, which appears to have become relatively strong in terms of economic and political stability, been unable to achieve democracy? Second, what has been the evolution of democracy versus authoritarianism in Thailand? Third, how have the linkages among state structures, economic relations and societal institutions evolved across time in Thailand? Fourth, what are the main features of their historical development today and how have these (as conditioned by domestic and international factors) affected Thailand's political conditions? Fifth, what is the likely future of Thai democracy? (Asian Aff/GIGA)
Authoritarian regimes become more likely to democratize when they face little choice or little risk. In some cases, the risk of democratization to authoritarian incumbents is so low that ending authoritarianism might not mean exiting power at all. This article develops a unified theory of authoritarian-led democratization under conditions of relatively low incumbent risk. We argue that the party strength of the authoritarian incumbent is the most pivotal factor in authoritarian-led democratization. When incumbent party strength has been substantial enough to give incumbent authoritarian politicians significant electoral victory confidence, nondemocratic regimes have pursued reversible democratic experiments that eventually culminated in stable, thriving democracies. Evidence from Europe's first wave of democratization and more recent democratic transitions in Taiwan and Ghana illustrate how party strength has underpinned authoritarian-led democratization across the world and across modern history.
Disintermediation allows citizens to directly access political communication. The greater diversity of interactions between political actors results in increased flow of information. This causes decreased effectiveness for gatekeepers and agenda-setters (old media), and makes way for the creation of a deregulated, non-hierarchical, and borderless space, resulting in the empowerment of citizens and the democratization of political communication. This is a modernizing time that affects the development of political process and the role of different political actors. However, this transformation is shaped by bias and structural factors that limit its universalization and, a priori, encourage the emergence of a citizen elite that is capable of managing and benefiting from change.
From the act of ordinary humans in shaping the world around them, to a structuralized professional practice, the perception and meaning of design has evolved. The institutional and closed definition of design in the years since the industrial revolution has failed to recognize the ingenious designs that come from the common man, the everyday designer. These solutions are contextual, sustainable and affordable and a necessity, especially for developing countries. This paper on the democratization of design seeks to recognize the ingenuity of this 'diffuse' or non-expert design and present cases of a few successful and path breaking innovations from the grassroots of India. It further explores the idea of a democratized design world where everyone would design. It would not mean de- professionalizing design, rather a new role for the designer as a facilitator to create this new reality of a participative co-design process. As we increasingly take cognizance of the impact of design in domains like businesses, organizations and even governance we are already on our way to create a pluriverse of design which creates value through a collective design capacity.
A regulatory process of "democratizing the media" based on recent constitutional guarantees and a 2013 communications law is under way in Ecuador. The initiative comes from a demand for new forms of social accountability and participation in the mass media after the Latin American experience of media companies'direct engagement in coups and the destabilization of progressive governments. Media democratization is seen as necessary for the construction of democratic societies. It is distinct in Latin America from recent Northern approaches, which tend to be technocratic, suggesting democratic transformation through new online media and enhanced consumer options. Ecuador's process follows similar initiatives in Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina, and Uruguay but is perhaps more articulate and systematic. It is instructive in that it builds on well-established public policy themes of the containment of monopoly power, redress of civil wrongs, and the promotion of participation and diversity. While media corporations mostly seek to disqualify debate on media regulation, Ecuador's approach deserves closer examination. Ecuador está llevando a cabo un proceso de "democratización de medios" basado en las recientes garantías constitucionales y la ley de comunicaciones de 2013. La iniciativa responde a una exigencia de nuevas formas de responsabilidad social y participación en los medios de comunicación masivos a raíz de experiencias latinoamericanas en las cuales ciertas compañías de medios han intervenido para desestabilizar o generar golpes de estado contra gobiernos progresistas. La democratización de los medios se considera necesaria para la construcción de sociedades democráticas, y esta aproximación se distingue de aquellas características del hemisferio norte con sus tendencias tecnocráticas, que sugieren que la transformación democrática se ha de llevar a cabo mediante nuevos medios en línea y opciones de consumo más amplias. El proceso ecuatoriano se suma a iniciativas similares en Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentina y Uruguay, pero es quizá más articulado y sistemático. Se basa en temas de política pública establecidos como la contención del poder monopólico, la rectificación de delitos civiles, y la promoción de la participación y la diversidad. Si bien las corporaciones de medios han buscado descalificar los debates en torno a la mencionada regulación, los esfuerzos ecuatorianos merecen ser examinados más de cerca.
