Chapter 17 Chapter Summary

This chapter addressed four main issues. (1) Democracy is a central issue globally, but its meaning is contested. Some argue for a universal definition that centres on a collection of liberal electoral procedures. For others, democracy is more complex because it is embedded in the specific culture(s) of each society; it also includes other components such as socio-economic rights. (2) Countries move from one type of regime to another for various equally contested reasons. One debate is about the role of domestic (or national) factors and international factors: are the prime causes of democratization located within the country or are they located at the international level, outside the country? Second, both actors (politicians, activists, social movements) and large structural forces (i.e., a country’s rising level of socio-economic development) are variously seen as the main engines of change. (3) Once democratic institutions and practices are established, various factors can consolidate and strengthen them, or, conversely, can cause their downfall. The importance of popular support, the acceptance of defeat on the part of incumbent elected officials, as well as ethnic violence and persistent economic inequalities, can determine the consolidation or unravelling of nascent democratization. (4) Some believe that only an iron-fisted authoritarian regime is capable of imposing difficult (but necessary) decisions to foster development. Others point out that too many predatory dictators have plundered national resources and that democracy is thus the best form of regime to improve social and economic welfare. Both sides of each of these four debates have some merit and a full under-standing of democracy and its relation to development can be gained only by examining specific cases.