CONSOLIDATION & CIVIL SOCIETYPLAN FOR TODAY

1. Summarizing Diamond’s tasks for consolidation.

2. Evaluating concept of consolidation.

3. Distinguishing among civil society definitions and their pros/ cons.

Necessary Developments to Promote Consolidation(Linz & Stepan, Diamond)

Tasks to Foster Consolidation(Diamond)1. Democratic deepening.2. Political institutionalization.3. Regime performance.

Democratic Deepening

1. Making formal institutions more liberal, accountable, representative, accessible.

2. No illiberal, electoral democracies during third wave have achieved consolidation.

1. E.g. Russia, Venezuela: deconsolidation.

Political Institutionalization1. Movement to routinized, predictable

patterns of political behavior around common rules and procedures.

2. 3 types of institutions involved:1. State apparatus.2. Institutions of democratic

representation and governance.3. Structures that ensure rule of law.

Regime PerformanceEconomic Performance1. Long record of economic

performance can build “reservoir of legitimacy” to weather crises.

2. Cannot be widespread perception that few are benefiting disproportionately.

1. E.g. South Africa.3. Economic hardship generally doesn’t

topple democracies.

Regime PerformancePolitical Performance People care about political goods as

well as economic.1. Order: physical safety, peace.2. Prestige of country in international

affairs (sometimes).3. Political freedom, accountability,

lack of corruption.

Is Consolidation an Appropriate Concept?

Problems with the concept of consolidation1. How can consolidated

democracies become deconsolidated?

Problems with the concept of consolidation2. How do we know when

threshold of consolidation is crossed?

How many people have to believe and how strongly?

Problems with the concept of consolidation3. Teleological aspect.

Assumption that events are naturally meant to follow this path.

Mirroring modernization theory. Unclear where definition of

consolidation comes from.

Problems with the concept of consolidation4. Persistence of stable

unconsolidated regimes. “Delegative democracies”

(O’Donnell).

Problems with the concept of consolidation5. Definition of institutionalization

(O’Donnell). “Institution”: “regularized

pattern of interaction that is known, practiced, and accepted by actors…” (O’Donnell)

Problems with the concept of consolidation5. Definition of institutionalization

(O’Donnell). Neglect of strong informal

institutions. E.g. Patron-client relations.

Problems with the concept of consolidation Solution may be to develop

typologies of democracy, without assuming stages to consolidation.

E.g. (Collier & Levitsky) “Electoral” democracy. “Delegative” democracy. “Limited” democracy. “De facto one-party” democracy.

CIVIL SOCIETY

EMBLEMATIC IMAGES OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN DEMOCRATIZATION: Prior to/ during transition: protests to

push authoritarian regimes out of power.Video of opposition protests in Belarus,

March 2006 (Ukrainian TV footage) Following transition: professionalized

organizations with narrower specialization, sometimes seeing role in democracy.Video on Maria Rikhvanova, Russian

environmental activist.

DEFINING CIVIL SOCIETY

DEFINING CIVIL SOCIETY1. Civil society as a

collective noun:•NGOs•Political parties? (e.g. Fish def’n.)•Religious organizations?•State-funded organizations?

DEFINING CIVIL SOCIETY2. Civil society as a space.• John Hall: Civil society a social

space for human experimentation with identities.

• Larry Diamond: “Realm of organized social life…”

LARRY DIAMONDDifferent from society in general –

citizens acting collectively in public sphere.

Intermediary between private life and the state.

Publicly oriented rather than private ends.

DEFINING CIVIL SOCIETY3. Civil society as values or

norms. Values that bind people

together collectively to promote democratic attachment.

ROBERT PUTNAMValues of trust, tolerance, mutual

cooperation.Not necessarily political advocacy

organizations.Building “social capital.”