DEMOCRACY LECTURE OUTLINE. The modern nation-state Citizenship rights The spread of liberal democracy

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1 DEMOCRACY

2 DEMOCRACY LECTURE OUTLINE The modern nation-state Citizenship rights The spread of liberal democracy

3 THE MODERN NATION-STATE state a political apparatus (government institutions plus civil service officials) ruling over a given territorial order sovereignty is the term used to describe the undisputed political rule of a state over a given territorial area whose authority is backed by law and the ability to use military force

4 THE MODERN NATION-STATE nation-states characteristic of the modern world governments have sovereign power within defined territorial areas the government is able to back its sovereignty by control of military power populations are citizens who know themselves to be part of single nations many of its citizens have positive feelings of commitment based on nationalism (see next slide)

5 THE MODERN NATION-STATE Nationalism A set of beliefs and symbols expressing identification with a national community. Marie lives in Marseilles, France. She loves to watch the Olympics to see athletes compete and is especially pleased when French athletes win events and the French national anthem is played during medal award ceremonies. She feels pride in her country and in its heritage. Nationalism is the term would sociologists probably employ to explain her reactions.

6 THE MODERN NATION-STATE local nationalisms The beliefs that communities that share a cultural identity should have political autonomy, even within smaller units of a nation-states. Jordi is a Spaniard who lives in Barcelona. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a region of northeastern Spain. Jordi feels more loyalty to his region, Catalonia, than to his country, Spain. He prefers to speak the local language, Catalan, although he speaks Spanish equally well. Jordi s feelings for Catalonia are an example of local nationalism. nations without a states the Kurdish community in Iraq, Basque separatists in Spain, the movement to restore the traditional indigenous Hawaiian Kingdom

7 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS civil rights political rights social rights

8 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS Citizenship did not originally carry rights of political participation. citizenship rights came largely through struggles limiting the power of monarchs E.g., Britain overthrowing them E.g., United States and France

9 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS civil rights Legal rights held by all citizens in a given national community (the rights of individuals in law). Svetlana is a Russian who lives in Moscow. She moved from a small town to the big city to look for a job after she finished a degree in computer science. Her great-grandfather, Anton, had been a Russian serf who was legally bound to the land on which he had lived decades ago. Svetlana s ability to move about more freely than her great-grandfather demonstrates achievement of a civil right. took a long while to achieve E.g., freedom of individuals to live where they choose, freedom of speech and religion, the right to own property, and the right to equal justice before the law (right to a fair trial). not all groups were allowed the same privileges E.g., blacks in the US

10 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS political rights Rights of political participation, such as the right to vote and run for office in local and national elections, held by citizens of a national community. Sybil lives in a country where she cannot always participate as fully as others. For example, only men can run for election to the local government council. So Sybil actively protests this restriction. Sybil is fighting for political rights. not won easily or quickly the vote for women was achieved partly through the efforts of women s movements and partly as a consequence of women entering the formal economy, early in the twentieth century, during World War I

11 HISTORY OF WOMEN S SUFFRAGE IN THE US 1777 Women lose the right to vote in New York Women lose the right to vote in Massachusetts Women lose the right to vote in New Hampshire. US Constitutional Convention places voting 1787 qualifications in the hands of the states. Women in all states except New Jersey lose the right to vote.

12 HISTORY OF WOMEN S SUFFRAGE IN THE US Women lose the right to vote in New Jersey, the last state to revoke the right. Fourteenth amendment passes Congress, defining citizens as "male;" this is the first use of the word male in the Constitution Wyoming territory grants first woman suffrage since Utah territory grants woman suffrage Utah women lose right to vote Utah women regain suffrage Idaho grants woman suffrage.

13 HISTORY OF WOMEN S SUFFRAGE IN THE US 1910 Washington (state) grants woman suffrage California grants woman suffrage Oregon, Arizona, and Kansas grant woman suffrage. Alaskan Territory grants suffrage. Illinois grants 1913 municipal and presidential but not state suffrage to women. North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, and Michigan grant presidential suffrage; Arkansas grants primary 1917 suffrage. New York, South Dakota, and Oklahoma state constitutions grant suffrage. The Nineteenth Amendment is ratified by Tennessee 1920 on August 18. It becomes law on August 26.

14 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS -- SOCIAL RIGHTS rights of social and welfare provision held by all citizens in a national community Eduardo lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. Recently he has seen the pay that he receives for his work as a hotel clerk reduced significantly as a result of legislation that reduced the minimum monthly wage for workers. Eduardo and his colleagues have taken to the street to protest against this law. Eduardo and his colleagues are fighting for social rights. the right of every individual to enjoy a certain minimum standard of economic welfare and security E.g., the right to claim unemployment benefits and sickness payments provided by the state, a guaranteed minimum wage in most societies, social rights have developed last the establishment of civil and political rights has underpinned the fight for social rights social rights have been won largely through poorer groups political strength, expressed after obtaining the vote

15 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS A welfare state exists when government organizations provide material benefits for citizens. (social rights become broadly established) The welfare state was firmly established in most Western societies in the twentieth century. benefits to help those who cannot support themselves the unemployed, the sick, the disabled, and the elderly. benefits to the middle class free or low-cost public education, freeways, and social security

16 CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS Why has the welfare state recently come under attack? the movement of jobs to lower-cost countries has made it more difficult to raise tax revenues the spread of neoliberalism neoliberalism questions whether the provision of extensive social welfare is the proper role of the government at all anti-immigrant sentiment the United States and some European countries have sought to reduce benefits to noncitizens and to prevent additional immigration

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18 THE SPREAD OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY What is democracy? The spread of liberal democracy

19 WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? The word democracy has its roots in the Greek term demokratia, from demos (people) and kratos (rule); its basic meaning is a political system in which the people, not monarchs or aristocracies, rule.

20 WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? participatory democracy (direct democracy) decisions are made directly and communally by those affected by them the original type of democracy practiced in ancient Athens has limited importance in modern societies E.g., New England town meetings E.g., referendum

21 WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? liberal democracy voters can choose between two or more political parties and the mass of the adult population has the right to vote political party organization of individuals with broadly similar political aims oriented toward achieving legitimate control of government through an electoral process

22 WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? multiparty system (e.g., France) allows diverse interests and points of view to be expressed more directly and provides room for representation of more radical alternatives two-party system (e.g., United States) more likely to result in political parties that converge on the middle ground and often come to resemble each other so closely that there is little distinctive difference in their key policies elections are based on the principle of winner takes all

23 THE SPREAD OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

24 WAVES OF DEMOCRACY -- SAMUEL HUNTINGTON NOTE: a country is democratic if at least fifty percent of adult males are eligible to vote and there is a responsible executive who either must maintain majority support in an elected parliament or is chosen in periodic popular elections

25 NOTE: a country is democratic if at least fifty percent of adult males are eligible to vote and there is a responsible executive who either must maintain majority support in an elected parliament or is chosen in periodic popular elections

26 DEMOCRATIC NATIONS (ELECTORAL DEMOCRACIES) (167 surveyed) 119 (192 surveyed) Since 1989, when the hold of the Soviet Union over Eastern Europe was broken, processes of democratization have spread across the world.

27 -- Free country is one where there is broad scope for open political competition, a climate of respect for civil liberties, significant independent civic life, and independent media. -- Partly Free countries are characterized by some restrictions on political rights and civil liberties, often in a context of corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic strife, or civil war. -- Not Free country is one where basic political rights are absent, and basic civil liberties are widely and systematically denied.

28 FREEDOM HOUSE As of 2008 (world s population) free (46 percent) partly free (20 percent) 2.3 billion people, living in 42 countries, classified as not free

29 THE SPREAD OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY Explaining the quick spread of democracy around the world in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries associated with capitalism Democracy tends to be associated with competitive capitalism in the economic system, and capitalism has shown itself to be superior to communism as a wealth-generating system. As more and more countries become part of a global capitalist system, pressures will mount for democratization. globalization Globalization tends to influence people s lives more now, leading them to push for more information about how they are governed and thus for more democracy. mass communications such as television and the Internet It is increasingly difficult for governments to control what their citizens see.

30 DEMOCRACY LECTURE OUTLINE The modern nation-state Citizenship rights The spread of liberal democracy