This book identifies the main factors shaping the fortunes of democracy globally. Why do some democracies in the same region and presumably subject to similar global influences remain stable while others regress? This is the question guiding all the authors of this edited book. In the search for answers, they examine 16 democracies in paired and tripled comparisons in sub-Saharan Africa, North and Latin America, East Asia, Western and Central Europe, along with two polar cases. Insights from the perspectives of history, political science, economics and international relations are offered along with a sketch of possible future scenarios. Combining approaches anchored in the analytical tradition with empirical case studies and given the broad range of topics, this book is bound to be of interest not only to students and practitioners of democracy but also to the broader academic and general readership.
Author(s): Ursula van Beek
Series: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 511
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Praise for Democracy under Pressure
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Part I A New World?
1 Quo Vadis Democracy?
Notes
References
2 From the End of History to the End of the World? A Tale of Unforeseen Global Changes
1 Introduction
2 The IT Revolution
3 The Decline of Multilateralism and Revival of Nationalism
4 Migration
5 Global Inequality
6 Changing Balance of Power
7 Climate Change
8 The COVID-19 Pandemic Becomes a Global Focus
9 Conclusion
Note
References
3 Will This Time Be Different? Effects of Large-Scale Technological Change in Advanced Democracies
1 Introduction
2 Epochs of Large-Scale Technological Change
3 The Effects of Earlier Epochs of Technological Change
3.1 Economic Effects
3.2 Political Effects
4 Economic and Political Effects of Recent Technological Change
5 Possible Future Effects and Policy Considerations
Notes
References
4 Back to the Future: The Rise of Nationalist Populism
1 Introduction
2 What Is Populism?
3 Why Populism?
4 Populism and the Politics of Identity
5 Crossing the Line: Poland and Turkey
5.1 The Roots
5.2 The Turn
6 Concluding Reflections
Notes
References
Part II Empirical Assessments: Global and Regional Developments
5 Macro- And Micro-Level Analyses
1 Introduction
2 Macro Level: The State of Democracy Globally
3 Micro Level: Value Orientations and Democratic Legitimacy
3.1 Data Base
3.2 The Emancipative Values Index (EVI) and the Secular-Rational vs. Traditional Values Index
3.3 Indicators of Political Legitimacy and Personal Well-Being
3.4 The Global Development of Value Orientations, Political Legitimacy and Personal Well-Being
4 Regional Developments at the Macro-Level
4.1 Europe
4.2 The Americas
4.3 Sub-Saharan Africa
4.4 Asia
4.5 Mena
5 Regional Differences at the Micro-Level
6 The Rise of Populism and the Decline in Support for Established Political Parties
7 Conclusions
Notes
References
Part III Empirical Assessments: Paired and Triple Comparisons
6 Political Culture in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Democratic Values in South Africa and Kenya
1 Introduction
2 Democratic Governance in South Africa and Kenya
2.1 South Africa
2.2 Kenya
3 Dimensions of Democratic Political Community in South Africa and Kenya
3.1 Cultural Level
3.2 Structural Level
3.3 Procedural Level
4 Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in South Africa and Kenya
5 Conclusion
Notes
References
7 United States–Canada: The Two Overlapping Democratic Trajectories in North America
1 Introduction
2 Long Run Political Development in North America: A Paired Comparison
2.1 European Settler Influx
2.2 First Nation Displacements
2.3 Discriminatory Hierarchies
2.4 Territorial Expansionism
2.5 Subnational and Local Politics
3 The Nationalisation of Political Life
4 Lipset’s Continental Divide: Three Decades Later
5 Paired Comparison: Neither Most Similar nor Most Different
6 Democratic Developments After 1990: A Paired Comparison
7 Conclusion
8 Postscript: On the Aftermath of the 2020 US Election and Political Polarisation
Notes
References
8 Argentina–Chile–Uruguay: Comparing Trajectories of Democratisation in Latin America’s Southern Cone
1 Introduction
2 The Southern Cone’s Longue Durée: Resemblances and Contrasts
3 How Much ‘Convergence’ Three Decades After the End of the Cold War?
4 Recent Turbulence and Current Prospects
5 Three Southern Cone Democracies Viewed Comparatively
Notes
References
9 Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines: Asian Values, Political Parties and Democratic Support
1 Introduction
2 The Current Status of Democracy and the Nature of Political Parties
2.1 The Nature of Political Parties
2.2 The Party System in Asia: Comparison of Three Countries
2.3 Taiwan: From Party of Notables to Mass Party
2.4 South Korea: Parties Without Social Cleavage
2.5 The Philippines: Personalistic Parties
3 Asian Culture and Political Parties
4 Empirical Evidence: Asian Culture Is Diverse
4.1 Effects of Asian Culture on Party Type and Democratic Regime Support
5 Conclusions
Notes
References
10 Democracy Under Pressure? Support of Democracy in Germany and Italy
1 Introduction
2 The Theoretical Model
3 Indicators and Data
4 Empirical Analysis
4.1 Support for Democracy: An Aggregate Summary of Empirical Results
4.2 Change of Support for Democracy: A Cross-Time Comparison
4.3 A Closer Look at Regime Performance
4.3.1 Germany: Citizen Evaluation of Regime Performance 1973–2019 and the Emergence of the Alternative for Germany (AfD)
4.3.2 Germany: Party Preference and Support for Democracy
4.3.3 Italy: Citizen Evaluation of Regime Performance 1973–2019, the Growing Strength of the Lega (L) and the Emergence of the Five-Star Movement (M5S)
4.3.4 Italy: Party Preference and Support for Democracy
5 Conclusions
Notes
References
11 Post-Communist Democracies in Decline? Estonia and Poland Compared
1 Introduction
2 Institutional and Attitudinal Indicators in the Study of Democratic Development
3 Comparative Method and Context
4 Institutional Measures of Democratic Development
5 Attitudinal Measures of Democratic Development
6 Conclusion
Notes
References
Part IV Empirical Assessments: Polar Cases
12 Adaptive Democracy in Times of Crisis: Lessons From Sweden
1 Introduction
2 Stability and Change in Party Systems and Central Institutions
2.1 A Turn to Liberalism in Constitutional Politics—In Times of Populism
2.2 A Fragmented Party system—But Still Able to Rule, Represent, and Resist Sirens
3 Explaining the Resilience and Remaining Challenges to Democracy
3.1 Individualisation
3.2 Digitalisation
3.3 Increasing Economic Inequalities
3.4 Globalisation
4 Concluding Reflections
Notes
References
13 Varieties of Turkish Democracy: A Progress in Reverse
1 Introduction
2 Varieties of Turkish Democracies
3 Vectors of Democratic Retreat
4 Elections When Democracy’s Survival is in Doubt
5 From Tutelary Democracy to the Expansive Hegemony of AKP’s Authoritarian Populism: Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire?
5.1 Transformation of Civil-Military Relations
5.2 Authoritarian Populism: “Democracy Like a Streetcar”
5.3 Authoritarian Capitalism and AKP’s New Developmental Discourse
5.4 Vox Populi: Support for Democracy?
6 Preliminary Conclusions
Notes
References
Part V Cross-Area Findings
14 Patterns and Prospects
1 The Method of ‘Qualitative Comparative Analysis’ (QCA)
2 The State of Liberal Democracy—Macro-Level
2.1 Socio-Economic Development
2.2 Government Processes and Performance
2.3 Social-Structural and Political-Cultural Conditions
3 Democratic Resilience or Backsliding
3.1 Governmental Processes and Performance
3.2 Social-Structural and Political-Cultural Conditions
4 State of Democracy—Micro-Level
4.1 Micro-Level and Macro-Level Determinants of Support for Democracy
4.2 The Development of Support for Democracy, a Pro-Choice Orientation, and the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index Since the Early 1980s
5 State of Democracy—Meso-Level
6 Conditions for Democratic Resilience and Quality of Democracy
Notes
References
Part VI Conclusions
15 The Return of History
1 Democratic Resilience and Retreat
1.1 Methodological Considerations
1.2 The Focus on Liberal Democracy and Levels of Popular Support
1.3 Countries and Regions: Dark Clouds and Silver Linings
2 Comparative Regime Performance: Democracies vs. Autocracies
2.1 Macro-Level Indicators
2.2 Micro-Level Indicators: Political Orientations
3 Concluding Remarks
References
16 Looking Ahead: Democracy and Modernity
1 Introduction
2 Climate Change
3 Security and the Democratic System of States
4 The Interconnectedness of Disease, Environment and Democracy
5 Covid-19
6 Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
