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Democracy & Authoritarianism > 5.3 Types of democracy > Flashcards

5.3 Types of democracy Flashcards

1
Q

Parliamentary democracies

A

Emerged from the historical transformation of absolutist monarchies into democratic regimes.

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2
Q

Features of parliamentary democracies

A
  1. Indirect election of the chief executive
  2. Limited separation of powers but a clear separation between the heads of government and state
  3. Flexible terms in office
  4. Citizens vote to elect members of the legislature (parliament)
  5. The majority in parliament in turn determines who becomes the head of the government
  6. If no party has a majority in parliament, multiple parties must form a coalition to appoint the new government
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3
Q

Are the PM + other ministers in the cabinet members of parliament?

A

Yes

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4
Q

Why is there a separation between head of the gov (PM) and head of state (Monarch)?

A

A consequence of parliamentary democracies having emerged from transformation of monarchies

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5
Q

Is the political role of monarchs in modern parliamentary democracies strong?

A

No, its weak and oriented towards preservation of national unity

e.g Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, UK and other democracies officially preserve + love monarchs to this day, these regimes are effectively republics in disguise

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6
Q

How about countries with presidents?

A

e.g India, Germany and Italy are all explicitly republican constitutions and appointed a president to perform the duties of head of state

  • president elected indirectly, by parliament or by an electoral college
  • presidents = politically weak figures
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7
Q

How can elections take place sooner in a parliamentary democracy if all of them are mandated to call elections at certain intervals?

A

In agreement w head of state, the PM can request dissolution of parliament and call for a new election in the middle of the term

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8
Q

What is the alternative that can happen?

A

Majority in parliament can support a vote of no confidence against the gov, forcing the PM + cabinet to resign

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9
Q

List the features of a presidential democracy

A
  1. Popular election of the chief executive
  2. Clear sep of powers but no sep between head of state and head of gov
  3. Fixed terms in office
  4. Voters participate in separate electoral processes to elect members of the legislature (congress) + head of gov (president) - happen on the same day, diff contests
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10
Q

What happens to the popular votes cast for congress members in a presidential democracy?

A
  • Typically tallied and summed up at local level to elect reps from particular districts
  • Votes cast for the president - typically tallied + summed at the national level to elect country’s chief exec
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11
Q

Are the PM + members of the cabinet members of congress in a presidential democracy?

A

No

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12
Q

What does this lead to?

A

Separation of powers between the two elected branches

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13
Q

How is coordination achieved in presidential democracy?

A

Coordination among executive + legislature is achieved only to the extent that the president & some members of Congress belong to the same political party

Or if the president can form a coalition with members of other parties

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14
Q

How long is the president + members of congress expected to serve in office in presidential democracies?

A

Fixed period

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15
Q

Does the president have constitutional power to dissolve congress in a presidential democracy?

A

No

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16
Q

Can congress issue a vote of no confidence against the president in a presidential democracy?

A

No

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17
Q

Give two examples of presidential democracies.

A

The USA

  1. President’s term lasts 4 years with a single possibility of immediate re-election
  2. Senators are elected to six-year terms
  3. Reps are elected for two-year terms

URUGUAY

  1. President’s term lasts 5 years
  2. Immediate reelection is banned however
  3. Senators are elected for a period of 5 years
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18
Q

What are semi-presidential regimes?

A

A regime that blends elements of presidentialism and parliamentarism

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19
Q

List the features of semi-presidential regimes

A
  1. Combine a directly elected president who serves in office for a fixed term
  2. A PM who is responsible to parliament
20
Q

Examples of semi-presidential systems

A
  1. Western Europe (e.g. Austria, France, Ireland, Portugal)
  2. Eastern Europe (e.g. Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine)
  3. Africa (e.g. Cape Verde, Mali)
  4. Asia (e.g. Mongolia, South Korea, Taiwan)
21
Q

What are majoritarian democracies?

A

Involve disproportional electoral system for the election of legislators, two-party systems and single party governments; unitary gov, unicameralism, flexible constitutions and weak judicial review

22
Q

Example of majoritarian democracy

A

Voters in UK or US

  1. They elect 1 legislator (the candidate w the largest no. of votes) to rep each district
23
Q

Benefits of a disproportional electoral system

A
  1. Such an electoral system discourages voters from supporting smaller parties
  2. Makes it easier for largest party to win a majority of seats in the parliament or congress
24
Q

What is a two-party system?

A

A party system with two equally balanced parties that receive almost all votes and alternate in power, forming single-party governments.

25
Q

What causes a two-party system?

A

When voters are unwilling to waste their votes on smaller parties with little chance of winning

THUS: Voters concentrate on the 2 largest parties

26
Q

What is likely to happen under a two-party system?

A

1.The party winning the election will have a majority in the legislature

  1. If the country has a parliamentary constitution, the majority party will not need to form a coalition to appoint the gov
  2. Therefore, governments in majoritarian democracies are typically run by single-party cabinets
27
Q

Additional traits of a majoritarian democracy PT 1

A
  1. Unitary and centralised government, such as the institutions repping the majority at the national level will decide on policies at the local or regional level
  2. Have distinctive characteristics that define the relationship between the central gov (representing national majorities) and the local governments (repping subnational minorities)
  3. Constitution = flexible, easy to change e.g the UK does not have a written constitution; legislature majorities can therefore eliminate or create new institutions—such as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, inaugurated in 2009—through a simple act of parliament
28
Q

Define unicameral

A

A legislature that consists of only one chamber. Unicameral legislatures are never found in federal political systems and are often associated with smaller, more homogeneous societies.

29
Q

Why are legislatures in majoritarian democracies likely to be unicameral?

A

Local govs = weak + unable to demand equal representation in the legislature, a federal senate is typically not included in the constitution

30
Q

Additional traits of a majoritarian democracy PT 2

A

Since the Constitution is flexible, legislative majorities are rarely constrained by the courts’ legal interpretation.

Majoritarian democracies typically have limited judicial review

31
Q

Define consensus democracies

A

Form of democracy in which the emphasis is placed on the inclusion of all social groups at all stages in the decision-making process and in which the most widespread possible agreement is sought for public policies and programmes.

32
Q

Features of consensus democracies

A
  1. Designed to protect the power of partisan + regional minorities
  2. Embrace coalition govs to favour national agreements & federalism to preserve local autonomy
  3. Adopt a proportional electoral system
  4. Multiparty systems
  5. Broad coalition governments; federalism, bicameralism, rigid constitutions, and strong judicial review
33
Q

Define proportional electoral system

A

The principle that the distribution of seats among parties brought about by an election should closely correspond to the distribution of votes among those parties. This principle can be effected by a wide range of different specific methods.

34
Q

Consensus democracies adopt proportional electoral systems. Explain + give an example.

A

Translate the percentage of votes obtained by each party into a very similar proportion of seats in the legislature

E.g in the 2014 Belgian election the incumbent Socialist Party obtained about 13 per cent of the national vote and gained 15 per cent of the seats in the lower house of parliament.

35
Q

Define multiparty systems and explain why it is used.

A

A party system in which many parties exist, with at most only one party approaching the absolute majority of seats, and therefore they need to form coalitions to support a government that is negotiated after the elections.

Coalitions will often include a large no of partners, even small parties that are not strictly necessary to form a legislative majority

Used because citizens support a small party, electoral rules sustain multiparty systems

36
Q

Example of a multiparty system

A

even though the media described the outcome of the 2015 Swiss election as a ‘landslide victory’ for the Swiss People’s Party, more than ten parties won seats in the lower house of the Swiss Federal Assembly.

The successful Swiss People’s Party captured 29 per cent of the vote at the national level, and 32 per cent of the seats in the lower house.

37
Q

Why do consensus democracies provide a balanced relationship between the executive and the legislature?

A

coalition governments depend on their legislative partners to avoid a vote of no confidence

38
Q

Consensus democracy is the best option for…

A

plural societies, nations divided along ethnic, linguistic, or religious lines

39
Q

What is a feature consensus democracies have to protect regional minorities from the dictates of nationwide majorities?

A

Federal system w decentralized government such that local govs (e.g US states, Swiss Cantons) enjoy extensive authority

40
Q

What is the legislature like in a consensus democracy?

A

Bicameral; local communities demand balanced representation in the national legislature, the constitution usually provides for an upper house, such as the US senate, the German Bundesrat or Swiss council of states

41
Q

Define bicameral

A

A legislature that consists of two chambers, with a lower chamber that represents the people as a whole and an upper house that represents either the sub-units (in a federal system) or the regions within a country, or even a particular class or group in society.

42
Q

Is the constitution flexible in consensus democracy?

A

No, it discourages national majorities to alter the constitution without extensive consultation

43
Q

How is the judicial review of consensus democracies

A

Powerful supreme courts or constitutional tribunals that exercise strong judicial review

44
Q

Advantage of majoritarian democracies

A
  1. Decisive - they can make policy changes quickly and effectively
  2. Decades ago, scholars feared that democratic systems with too many parties would be prone to political unrest, and thus favoured the two-party systems characteristic of majoritarian democracies, or at least moderate forms of multipartism
45
Q

Disadvantage of majoritarian democracies

A
  1. Potentially volatile, since policies will shift with the whims of the majority
  2. Tsebelis argued that institutions designed to empower minorities create multiple ‘veto players’ and encourage policy paralysis
46
Q

Advantage of consensus democracies

A
  1. Resolute: they will agree on major policies and sustain them based on broad agreements
  2. Arend Lijphart has argued that consensus democracies perform at least equally well, and often much better than majoritarian systems when we consider macroeconomic outcomes, social unrest, voter turnout, women’s participation in politics, and other indicators of democratic quality

Democracy & Authoritarianism (5 decks)

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