CH 8: Latin America's Uneasy Progress

Monica RomeroINTL. 190

Peru's Transition to Democracy

• Alejandro Toledo's origins• Reaction to Fujimori's autogolpe• Toledo's Presidency

o povertyo social inequality

Democratic Hopes in the Americas

• Pre-1980s Latin American Countries• Latin America Today 

Duvalier, Dictator of Haiti                              Pinochet,                                                                     Dictator of Chile

Challenges to Latin American Democracy: Unanswered Social Problems

• Poverty• Racial Discrimination• Police Corruption• Organized Crime • Gang violence

Favela (slum) in Brazil

CH 9: The PostCommunist Divide

Sandy MartinezINTL 190

What once was the Soviet Union..

 

The Social Divide

Deep historical/cultural legacies make the former Soviet Union states less likely to join the European Union

4 Alternatives to Democratic Rule• Army Rule• Communist Rule• Dictator• "suspending" parliament

 Current Post Soviet Union states

 

Falling back into Authoritarianism

" Over time, tensions, divisions, and disappointments for the post-communist ear ave found expression in public support for authoritarian nationalist parties and candidates and recurrent political mainstreaming or 'legitimation of xenophobia'."  -page 194 (beginning of 3rd paragraph)

-sentiments against ethnic minorities    " Eastern Europe's populists do not act as if htey face a political opponent (or ethnic, religious, or sexual minority) with whom they can negotiate, but rather an enemy they must destroy." - page 195 (mid page)

CH 10 Asian exceptionalism

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

Authoritarianism and collectivism in Asian

cultureHow authoritarianism and

collectivism are embedded into Korean daily life

Appearances can be deceiving

Authority and collectivism in Korean politics and why despite appearances its not a US type

of democracy

Puppeteer and his marionettes

Kim Dae Jung and the way he accumulated power informally

Korean and Chinese factions

Authoritarianism and collectivism extending to China

Work ethic in Asia

How Asians dedicate themselves to people around

them

Conclusion

AFRICA, OVERCOMING PERSONAL RULE

Larry DiamondChapter 11

Monika NavarroINTL 190

• Nigeria 1974 – first initial oil boom. At the time, Nigeria was a huge oil exporter producing 2 million barrels a day

• Revenue had tripled leading the citizens to believe that there would be hope of government spending and building as well as a transition from military regime to a democratic society

• Economic boom did occur, but along with it came corruption on a massive scale allowing for politicians and elites to become richer as the poor lived poorly

• Independence gained in 1960. Its true mark of freedom was the inauguration of Nigeria’s Second Republic on October 1, 1979

• Oil prices booming due to the Iranian revolution in 1979. Nigeria’s total oil revenue in 1980 was $12 billion. On top of these revenues, the government also borrowed any funds across seas would give them

• Public eye started to notice and take account of what was going on. They wanted political change

• Nigeria in a trap of destabilized governing; stubborn politicians against citizens who would not stand for authoritarian rule

• Nigeria contains about 1/5 of the total population of sub-Saharan Africa, about 700 million people in all of Africa. Nigeria is one of the most important distributors of oil in the world, but also are within the lowest percentile according to the Human Development Index

• Corruption and bad governing does not contribute to its already struggling state. The quality of governance is a big contributor in how the state is affected and runs . Africa remains one of the most corrupt and badly governed regions in the world

• Argentine economists Daniel Kaufmann and colleagues developed, at the World Bank Institution, 6 measures to assess a country’s quality of governance: voice and accountability, freedom of expression and citizen participation in selecting the government, government effectiveness (of public services and public administration), quality of government regulation, the rule of law, and control of corruption

The development trap

The pathology of personal rule• Dysfunctional development failures throughout Africa postcolonial times • Aid is a huge contributor to funding majority of African countries. In some

cases, it accounts for over half of government budget. Both oil and aid feed into ruling elites power contributing to economic irrationality

• Neopatrimonialism – draws from Max Weber, that in small, traditional systems, highly personal and arbitrary rule converted ordinary people into clients of the ruler rather than citizens with rights

• The right to rule is ascribed to a person rather than to an office. Subordiantes pay loyalty to their personal patrons, not to laws and institutions

• Personal VS National • Prebendalism – Richard Joseph of Northwestern University, a political

scientist and leading scholar of Nigeria and Africa, refers to this corruption as prebendalism

Africa’s (somewhat) new political era

• Personalization and concentration of government power remains in African realities. What is different? “Life Presidency” is no longer there

• By the end of 2006, almost 23 African states were democracies; changes in electoral malfeasance, corruption, and ruling party dominance, civil society, and the press. General transformation across the continent was extraordinary

• Ghana emerged as one of Africa’s most liberal and vibrant democracies. Africa’s average levels of freedom improved according to Freedom House scale

• Prior to 1990, African leaders left power violently do to a coup or assassination. In the 1990s, peaceful exists occurred in ways of electoral defeat or voluntarily resignation. This became the norm

• Foreign pressure influencing presidential constrain? • Another emerging trend: civil society. Associations sprouting all around, which

allow for great force for political accountability which challenge the president• Trade unions, student associations, human rights associations, women’s and

civic education groups, election monitoring networks

The barometer of democracy • Growing public demand for democracy. 62% of the public in 18

countries said that democracy was preferable to any other government• Almost ¾ of Africans reject the option of military rule for their country• More patience growing for democracy• Satisfaction on the other hand is lower then the patience. With the

survey given with the Afrobarometer (cofounded by political scientist Michael Bratton), you see that Africans want certain democratic things, but do not see them happening in Africa

• The understanding of democracy and demand for it is there. The postcolonial generation knows its political knowledge and seems to be the generation that is achieving the democratic reforms

Can democracy in Africa really work?• No region has more countries that straddle the divide between

democracy and pseudodemocracy that Africa. Independent and effective electoral administraion has become institutionalized in some African countries, South Africa and Ghana, but in most of Africa, civil liberties are constrained, opposition rights are tenuous, and elections are riddled with malpractices, which is fair to even ask if some of these regimes are even democratic in any case

• On April 12, anti-monarchy protests occurred in Swaziland. Police have been violent towards members of political parties, journalists, and union members, and reports on them being detained across the country. There is strong support for the monarchy and current political system remains, but the planned peaceful demonstrations may further inflame the desire for democratic change. The pro-democracy movement which includes labour and trade unions and political parties like People’s United Democratic Movement, have been failed to be acknowledge by the government increasing their discontent.

CH 12: Can The Middle East Democratize?

Kirsten Noel INTL 190

Introduction    

•  Egypt: Hosni Mubarak• Syria and Lebanon• Jordan: King Abdullah• Iraq•  Freedom House: states that in 2005, the Middle East

had a "positive regional trajectory", though at times only modest changes were made

 

The Cycle of reform

- Diamond: tactical liberalizationo     ex: Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Egypt? o reasons for temporary reform:

more foreign aid and investment because of increased political transparency increased support of internal and external populations regional trends maintenance of hegemonic monarchy  Western pressures

o reasons for returning to authoritarian rule: Increased Islamic influence ethnic complexities

proportional representation refugees

strategic role with the US and Europe

Islamic Fundamentalism

• causes of Islamic electoral gains• the need for Islamic parties in genuine democracy• necessary steps for Islamic parties

o   Illuminate gray areas in their doctrines and intentions

“personal religiosity does not have much impact in shaping 

commitment to democracy; rather it is education that matters.” 

Requirements of a Genuine Democracy

     ....are the opposition parties and Western powers  ready and willing to share democratic control with Islamic parties? •  feelings of powerlessness = predictor for a

political Islamist orientation• Diamond : religion and society are not the real

problem, but rather the regimes and the region's distinctive geopolitics

• better democratic governance= solution to radical Islam

Current Events: Egypt

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/04/13/watson.mubaraks.detained.cnn?iref=allsearch

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/egypt/index.html

The general theme of the readings

• Diamond postulates that overall, citizens under authoritarian regimes desire genuine democracy, but lack the opportunity to do so because of the personal interests of the ruling elite.  

• How then can democracy be established in these underdeveloped countries?o from the bottom, up?o through foreign assistance?o  redistribution of power?