Suchergebnisse

The PhD thesis starts with the question of the lack of democratization in Singapore. In comparison, the political developments in a very similar case, namely the Hong Kong of the 1970s and early 1980s, show the rising demand for participation of a politically active middle class. This follows the predictions of modernization theory, which suggests that the more developed countries are more likely to also be democracies. Singapore defies this logic as the rapid economic transformations in the past 50 years have not translated into any significant social conflict. The reasons for the difference between Hong Kong and Singapore can best be analyzed with an enhanced version of social movement theory. The "political process model" suggests that the development of social conflict hinges on changing political opportunities, the organizational structure and the cognitive liberation of oppositional groups. Opposed to these challengers and neglected in the original political process model are the ruling elite groups, whose interests are in the maintenance of the present political system because it secures their power. These groups attempt to restrict the development and the influence of their challengers. The formation of conflict naturally rests within the interaction of these two sets of groups. An analysis of these groups in the two city-states reveals that the ruling elite groups in Singapore have been more successful in co-opting and coercing oppositional groups than their counterparts in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the Singapore government has been more effective in their implementation of government programs than the Hong Kong government. This has been the case even though both governments have followed the same goals. In both city-states, the oppositional groups have also pursued the same goals but due to the differences in success of the governments they have opted for different strategies. As a consequence, Hong Kong's political movements have been willing to actively challenge the government, if necessary on the ...

The article presents a proposal for the assessment of the quality of democracy. After elaborating on the methodological strategy, a definition of democracy is proposed, which entails the construction of the matrix of democracy based on three dimensions (political freedom, political equality, and political and judicial control) and five institutions. The methodological application of this measuring tool is then explained. This conception guarantees an appropriate measurement in different cultural contexts, enables the characterization of democratic profiles, and allows for the identification of deficiencies in democracies. Before the conclusion, three examples of the measurement (USA, Russia, and Italy) illustrate how the matrix works. ; Der Beitrag präsentiert einen Vorschlag zur Demokratiemessung. Auf der Grundlage einer vorgestellten methodologischen Strategie wird eine Demokratiedefinition vorgeschlagen. Diese ermöglicht die Konstruktion einer Demokratiematrix, die auf drei Dimensionen (politische Freiheit, politische Gleichheit sowie rechtliche und politischer Kontrolle) und fünf Institutionen beruht. Die methodische Anwendung der Demokratiematrix wird erläutert. Diese Messanlage ermöglicht eine kontextangemessene Messung in verschiedenen kulturellen Umwelten. Weiterhin erlaubt sie die Charakterisierung von demokratischen Profilen und die Identifizierung von demokratischen Defiziten. Neben dem Konzept und seiner methodischen Erläuterung werden drei Fallbeispiele (USA, Russland und Italien) vorgestellt, um die Arbeitsweise der Demokratiematrix zu illustrieren.

"Adapted from the groundbreaking Principles of Comparative Politics, now in its third edition, Foundations of Comparative Politics presents a scientific approach to the rich world of comparative inquiry, research, and scholarship, providing students a guide to cross-national comparison and why it matters to them. Foundations introduces students to the key questions in comparative politics using tools such as decision, social choice, and game theory to help them understand clearly why some explanations for political phenomena are stronger than others. Such an approach more closely replicates what comparative scholars do: constructing and testing theories on political phenomena, over basic memorization of country-specific facts - to explain, rather than describe. Through this approach, students gain invaluable real-world skills in critical thinking and empirical analysis that they will carry with them long after the course is over"...