Democracy

The basics

Carolina Torreblanca

University of Pennsylvania

Global Development: Intermediate Topics in Politics, Policy, and Data

PSCI 3200 - Spring 2025

Agenda

  1. Conceptualizing Democracy
  2. Measuring Democracy
  3. Majoritarian Threat to Democracy (Grossman et. al.)
  4. On Wed: Democracy and development (And Fixed Effects)

What is Democracy?

  • Not an easy question to answer!

  • One might even say polemic…

    • Etymology? Demokratia = demos + kratia

    • Is it about elections? About outcomes? About norms?

  • Academics often talk about minimalist (procedural)

  • and maximalist (substantive) conceptions of democracy.

What is Democracy? The Minimalists

Democracy as a PROCEDURE for choosing and replacing who rules us

  • Schumpeter: a system in which rulers are selected by competitive elections

  • Popper: a system in which citizens can replace governments without bloodshed

  • Przeworksi: a system in which citizens collectively decide by whom and, to some extent, how they will be governed

What is Democracy? The Maximalists

“Thick’’ definition of democracy

  • Democracy as system that embodies or a method for realizing extrinsic values

  • Democracies classified based on formal institutions and rules, how those institutions are used in practice, and what outcomes they produce

    • Do the rules, the way they are used, and their consequences promote equality, accountability, participation, justice, dignity, security …

Minimalists vs. Maximalists

Common critique of procedural conceptions of democracy:

  • is that it is too thin and mostly electoral.

  • But is it really that minimal?

    • What do we require to hold “free and fair” elections?
      • At least civil and political rights, neutral electoral machinery, stability, competing parties, etc…
      • Respect for the rules of the game …

Minimalists vs. Maximalists

Common critique of maximalist perspective:

  • Democracy becomes subjective

    • Whatever values we view as democratic need not be the other persons’ views
    • Hard to measure, hard to compare across time and space

  • If democracy is only justifiable for its outcomes, we may risk autocracy during bad times

Are you a maximalist or a minimalist?

What is a necessary condition for a system to be democratic?

  • Does it need to hold elections?

  • Does everyone need to be able to vote?

  • Does everyone need to be able to run for office?

  • Have an independent legislative body?

  • Independent media?

  • Economic equality?

What is an autocracy

  • A fundamentally residual category!

Measuring democracy

  1. Minimalist (Yes/No)
    • Democracy-Dictatorship score (ends in 2008 sadly)
      • Democracy if: Executive is elected, legislature is elected, more than one party, has been an alternation of power under current rules
  2. Maximalist

The Value of Democracy

  1. Per se

    • The fairest system as normatively desirable.
    • Political freedom is human freedom.

  2. Instrumental (i.e gets you something else)

    • The best way to prevent abuse is by making our rulers dependent on us.

    • We can select the most competent rulers.

    • Pacification of the political life.

    • Economic Development

If Democracy is Valuable…

Then we want to keep it safe!

  • Democracies are stronger when citizens hold politicians accountable

  • But… what if people knowingly support antidemocratic governments or antidemocratic behavior from politicians?

The Majoritarian Threat to Liberal Democracy

Grossman, Kronick, Levendusky, and Meredith, 2022

  • Puzzle: voters often ignore or even support politicians’ power grabs. Why?

    • Extant research shows some people prefer nondemocratic governments (autocrats)

    • While others prioritize their partisan objectives over democratic principals (militants)

  • But the authors suggest there is a third type …

The Majoritarian Threat to Liberal Democracy

  • Majoritarians:

  • People who believe popular elected leaders are justified in taking legal but “antidemocratic” steps

  • What do we mean by that?

  • How to identify these people in the population?

Research Design

  • Two survey experiments. We will focus on the first one

  • Vignette –> outgoing governor announces that he will appoint a replacement for a state SCJ instead of waiting for incoming governor from opposite party

    • Not illegal but not “democratic”

  • Respondents are assigned to a treatment or control condition.

  • What is the treatment?

Research Design

Randomly assigned whether the outgoing governor is a co-partisan of respondents

  • Outcomes?

    1. Do you approve of what the outgoing governor did?
    2. Do you think it’s consistent with democracy?

  • Assumptions?

    1. Treatment and control groups are the same across all relevant dimensions, in expectation

Theoretical Expectations

Results

Discussion

  • Are majoritarians antidemocratic? Are partisans?

    • What would the minimalists say?
    • What would the maximalists say?

  • What implications does the existence of majoritarians have for democratic quality?