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City University of New York, Political Science Program ; 1.1968 - ; Gesehen am 24.06.2021

submitted by Michael Haiden ; Enthält Literaturverzeichnis auf Blatt 78-92 ; Masterarbeit Paris Lodron University of Salzburg 2021

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.

"In the comparative political economy of rich democracies there is a long tradition of classifying countries into one of a small number of categories based on their economic institutions and policies. The most recent of these is the Varieties of Capitalism project, which posits two major clusters of nations: coordinated and liberal market economies. This classification has generated controversy. We leverage recent advances in mixture model-based clustering to see what the data say on the matter. We find that there is considerable uncertainty around the number of clusters and, barring a few cases, which country should be placed in which cluster. Moreover, when viewed over time, both the number of clusters and country membership change considerably. As a result, arguments about who has the 'right' typology are misplaced. We urge caution in using these country classifications in structuring qualitative inquiry and discourage their usage as indicator variables in quantitative analysis, especially in the context of time-series cross-section data. We argue that the real value of both Esping-Andersen's work and the Varieties of Capitalism project consists of their theoretical contributions and heuristic classification of ideal types." (author's abstract)

This stimulating and accessible introduction to comparative politics offers a fresh perspective on the fundamentals of political science. Its central theme is the enduring political significance of the modern state despite severe challenges to its sovereignty. There are three main sections to the book. The first traces the origins and meaning of the state and proceeds to explore its relationship to the practice of politics. The second examines how states are governed and compares patterns of governance found in the two major regime types in the world today, democracy and authoritarianism. The last section discusses several contemporary challenges - globalization, ethnic nationalism, terrorism and organized crime - to state sovereignty. Designed to appeal to students and professors alike, this lively text engages readers as it traces states' struggles against the mutually reinforcing pressures of global economic and political interdependence, fragmented identities and secessionism, transnational criminal networks, and terrorism.