Democratic Norms Research Articles

Bridging the Divide: Strategic Measures to Enhance US-Cuba Relations in 21st Century

The US-Cuban relations have been historically bitter due to various factors, including the US's reluctance to engage with Cuba and its communist ideology. During the Cold War, the US faced difficulties due to Cuba's inclination towards the USSR, leading to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The US has always had concerns about Cuba and its ideology, which have been reflected in policies and statements. The Obama administration attempted to take positive steps towards Cuba, but the Trade Embargo imposed by the USA in the 1960s still heavily affected the relations. By the 21st century, these issues must be resolved to eradicate security and economic concerns from the region for its prosperity. The Reagan administration reversed direction and focused on controlling Cuban immigration to the US, granting up to 20,000 immigrant visas annually. Cuba has always impacted the security of the United States, as the country has been a significant threat since 1959 when the US and USSR faced nuclear war. The US has attempted to influence many countries in the region, but Cuba has been difficult to crack. Despite imposing embargoes, the US has failed to bring democratic norms to Cuba. As Cubans have a major stake in US politics, the US capitalizes on their influence. The worsening law and order situation in Cuba has led to mass migration to the USA, with the US trying to compensate Cuban immigrants to undermine their government policies. The 21st-century fluctuations in American policy for Cuba continue to pose Cuba as a security threat to the US. This article aims at highlighting issues like Migration, Cuban Ideology, US Embargo, and Terrorism which remain to be at core of the US-Cuban relations. These issues must be addressed in order to put US-Cuban relations back on track.

Religion, Morality, and Democracy in Ghana

Abstract Many Ghanaians express concern about what they regard as a serious decline in morality and integrity, at both elite and popular levels. The decline is believed to fuel corruption, undermine national development, and diminish faith in democracy as the best available system of government. The paper argues that a close relationship between Ghana’s largest church, the Church of Pentecost (CoP), and the country’s two main political parties, the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress, threatens Ghana’s secular constitution and the country’s three decades of democracy in two ways. First, the CoP wants undemocratically to impose a framework to control Ghanaians’ moral behaviour according to the church’s values and beliefs. Second, the CoP’s influence on Ghana’s two main political parties seeks to prioritise power and control over all Ghanaians regardless of their religious affiliation and of the country’s commitment to democratic norms and institutions.

Improving ethical assurance for non-university researchers in crisis settings: an early vision based on democratic norms

This article aims to open a discussion on better ethical assurance for non-university research actors drawing on democratic norms. It derives from the author’s experience of a gap in ethical assurance for social science and humanities (SSH) research that takes place outside academia, for example within international organisations, public bodies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and by private entities. Many of these actors commission, conduct or sub-contract research activities involving human participants on a regular basis, an activity that often increases during times of crisis where researchers in both the public and private sphere scramble to generate the new knowledge necessary to respond and prevent further harms. The ethical assurance frameworks for such research, while growing, remain limited. Discussion of research conducted by actors outside of university settings and their ethical assurance frameworks are both subjects under-interrogated within the literature. This paper seeks to open that discussion by presenting this broad non-university research context through the frame of research in crisis settings, where the ethical requirements of ‘do no harm’ and the ‘dual imperative’ possess an even heavier significance in research ethics. Furthermore, the global and diverse nature of crisis settings often gives rise to conversations concerning the positioning of the research actor and the need to empower the research participant. This paper presents an early vision of the non-university research actor and ethical assurance process based on the democratic norms of equality and inclusivity.

Online and Unkind: Examining the Personality Correlates of Online Political Incivility

Many forms of online political incivility threaten democratic norms, contribute to polarization, and are often directed at women and racial minorities. Recent research shows that online political incivility may come from a minority of users that are just as hostile offline as they are online, meaning that individual differences in personality traits may be an important predictor of online political incivility. Drawing upon a large sample of adults living in Canada (N = 1725), we examined the association between personality traits and online political incivility using robust measures of psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and the general traits of the HEXACO. While controlling for a variety of sociodemographic and political variables, we found that people who score higher in honesty-humility, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the planfulness facet of Machiavellianism, are less likely to report engagement in online political incivility. People who score higher in extraversion, several facets of psychopathy, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and antagonistic Machiavellianism, by contrast, are more likely to report engagement in online political incivility. In general, the personality traits that predict offline aggression and antisocial behaviour tend to be the same traits that predict self-reports of vulgarity, stereotyping, and threats in online political discussions. Interventions to reduce online incivility may benefit from considering the dispositional tendencies of uncivil users.

Does Private School Choice Threaten Democracy? Evidence from Private and Public Schools in New York City and Dallas/Fort Worth

A major concern in the ongoing debate over school choice is whether private schools help to increase their students’ levels of tolerance necessary for a functioning democracy in the United States. Over 40 years ago, scholars at the University of Minnesota created a survey which measured political knowledge, political tolerance, perceived threats from opposing groups, and support for democratic norms anchored in each respondent’s view of the political group they find most distasteful. In 1997, researchers at various universities used a similar survey instrument to derive responses from students in eighth-grade social studies classes who were enrolled in seven public and twenty-four private schools in New York City and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Those original data remained archived and unexamined for decades. We analyze those data using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and rigorous Nearest Neighbor Matching (NNM) methods based on propensity scores. We find that students who attended private schools demonstrate higher levels of political knowledge and stronger support for democratic norms when compared to observationally similar students who attended public schools.

Normative power at its unlikeliest: EU democratic norms and security service reform in Ukraine

This article traces the effects of European Union (EU) normative power on security sector reform in Ukraine. We argue that to get a better grasp of how normative power works in practice, we need to scrutinize more closely the domestic journey of EU norms. This local lens allows us to uncover the inherent contestation involved in the transnational travel of norms, emphasizing the importance of local agency and local conceptions of normativity. We reveal the internal struggle between liberal democratic norms and deeply ingrained attitudes, institutions and behaviours linked to the Soviet legacy. We show how EU democratic norms gradually empower domestic constituencies and overcome domestic structural resistance to change, leading to democratic advances in a sector least likely to reform.

Public support for the cordon sanitaire: Descriptive evidence from Spain

Reactions to the rise of far-right parties that advocate democratic backsliding, and the dilution of socially liberal democratic norms present a dilemma for existing political parties. How should existing political parties respond to this challenge? A commonly adopted strategy is to apply a cordon sanitaire which excludes radical right-wing challengers from the government-forming process. Do voters support this policy? Leveraging data from Spain – where the mainstream right has accommodated the radical right-wing party, VOX, via numerous governing coalitions – I rely on individual citizens’ views on how parties should respond to rise of the far-right party, to answer this question. Empirically, the results show very low-level support for the cordon sanitaire in Spain. Indeed, the modal position of the electorate, regardless of their ideological position, is to treat the party just like any other. These results are not conditioned by the propensity of individuals to identify VOX as indeed being a “radical right” party. These descriptive findings suggest that whilst radical right-wing parties may present an inimical threat to democratic norms, citizens do not necessarily view the means of squashing this threat to be one of strategic exclusion. This likely explains why the mainstream right has been able to institutionalise VOX as a political ally: where strategic exclusion is not expected, the mainstream right need not fear violating an expectation that does not exist.

The consistency principle: Crisis perceptions, partisanship and public support for democratic norms in comparative perspective

AbstractA growing body of research theorizes that partisanship can undermine democracy as citizens prioritize their political interests over abstract norms and values. We argue that crises might counteract intense partisanship by giving citizens clarity on the threats posed by rule of law violations. Examining the differential application of a law – a breach of democratic norms – we draw on an experiment embedded in representative surveys of Germany, the United States, Hungary and Poland to examine citizens’ sense of appropriate punishment for elites’ violation of a municipal mask‐wearing ordinance. We find evidence of partisan bias in citizens’ willingness to support punishment in all four countries. But, in the two consolidated democracies, we find that concern about the Covid‐19 crisis diminishes partisan biases in punishment preferences: citizens who are most concerned about the crisis also model the most consistency in their willingness to hold copartisans into account.

Tough Positions, Trustful Voters? How Mainstream Party Position-Taking on Immigration Shapes Political Trust and its Impact on Far-Right Voting

Abstract Mainstream parties have taken increasingly restrictive immigration policy positions across Western Europe. Yet the political consequences of this behaviour for citizens' democratic norms and practices are still not well understood. This article focuses on public political trust. Bridging the literatures on immigration-related trust and spatial theory, the spotlight is put on the consequences of mainstream party position-taking on immigration for the interconnectedness of citizens' immigration policy preferences, political distrust and far-right voting. An analysis of data from the Chapel Hill Expert Survey and European Social Survey across 14 Western European democracies (2006–2018) suggests that tougher immigration positions of centre-right parties in government weaken the link between immigration scepticism and political distrust and, in turn, the relevance of political distrust as a precursor of far-right voting. This has important implications for our understanding of immigration politics and advances the existing literatures on party competition, political trust and far-right voting in several ways.

Uncommon and nonpartisan: Antidemocratic attitudes in the American public

Democratic regimes flourish only when there is broad acceptance of an extensive set of norms and values. In the United States, fundamental democratic norms have recently come under threat from prominent Republican officials. We investigate whether this antidemocratic posture has spread from the elite level to rank-and-file partisans. Exploiting data from a massive repeated cross-sectional and panel survey ([Formula: see text] = 45,095 and 5,231 respectively), we find that overwhelming majorities of the public oppose violations of democratic norms, and virtually nobody supports partisan violence. This bipartisan consensus remains unchanged over time despite high levels of affective polarization and exposure to divisive elite rhetoric during the 2022 political campaign. Additionally, we find no evidence that elected officials' practice of election denialism encourages their constituents to express antidemocratic attitudes. Overall, these results suggest that the clear and present threat to American democracy comes from unilateral actions by political elites that stand in contrast to the views of their constituents. In closing, we consider the implications of the stark disconnect between the behavior of Republican elites and the attitudes of Republican voters.

The Guardian State: Strengthening the public service against democratic backsliding

AbstractLiberal democracy has become vulnerable to illiberal political movements and the gradual erosion of democratic institutions. To safeguard liberal democracy, we propose the concept of the Guardian State, which embraces liberal principles while acting as a defensive barrier against illiberal tendencies. We need strong administrative institutions that uphold liberal democratic norms and resist pressures from populist politicians. Institutionalizing guardianship as the key norm within the civil service fortifies democratic institutions against backsliding. The principle of neutrality alone cannot ensure that only liberal citizens come to power. Structural measures at the individual and organizational levels are essential to fortify the foundations of the Guardian State and protect liberal democracy against evolving threats. Proactive efforts are necessary to defend and strengthen the public service to ensure the long‐term viability of democratic governance. The Guardian State places the bureaucracy in a key role in preserving the core principles of democracy.

Democracy and Breach of Contract Risk: An Assessment of How Different Dimensions of Democracy Weigh on Postcolonial States

ABSTRACT This article compares different measures of democracy to determine how they impact breach of contract risk, especially in postcolonial states that are more likely to suffer from neopatrimonialism with their imported state apparatus. By demonstrating how the normative measure of democracy, which emphasises respect for civil liberties, is more impactful in reducing breach of contract risk than the procedural measure that emphasises institutions, this article highlights the nonoptimal consequences of institutionalised democratisation without the normative dimension. The main findings are that while there is significant variation between the normative and procedural measures of democracy, it is increases in the normative measure of democracy that better promote accountability and the rule of law, thereby more effectively reducing breach of contract risk. We conclude that democratic norms must parallel progress in democratic form so to enable better (lower) breach of contract risk.

THE PARTISAN PARTICIPATION IN THE JORDANIAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Purpose: The study explores parliamentary elections, election laws, and party attitudes, using content analysis to understand their impact on electoral outcomes. It suggests recommendations for enhancing trust and promoting democratic principles.
 
 Theoretical framework: The study's theoretical framework may incorporate political science and sociology concepts, focusing on electoral processes, political parties, and democratic governance. It may explore institutionalism, party systems theory, democratic theory, and content analysis methodology to understand the impact of election laws, party behavior, and democratic norms on political outcomes.
 
 Design/Methodology/Approach: The study's theoretical framework may incorporate political science and sociology concepts, focusing on electoral processes, political parties, and democratic governance. It may explore institutionalism, party systems theory, democratic theory, and content analysis methodology to understand the impact of election laws, party behavior, and democratic norms on political outcomes.
 
 Findings: The study may have revealed the dynamic nature of the electoral environment, the impact of election laws on party behavior, partisan positions on electoral processes, the effectiveness of political parties in elections, trust in political institutions, and recommendations for electoral reform. These findings could help strengthen democratic governance and electoral processes.
 
 Research, Practical & Social Implications: The study provides empirical insights into party behavior and election laws, highlighting the importance of qualitative research methods. It can inform policymakers, political parties, and civil society organizations in electoral reforms, enhancing fairness, transparency, and inclusivity. The findings can also promote trust, civic engagement, and protection of human rights, fostering a more inclusive democracy.
 
 Originality/Value: The study provides valuable insights into evolving electoral dynamics, partisan positions, and electoral outcomes. It offers recommendations for improving trust and promoting democratic principles. The content analysis method provides a rigorous framework for analyzing textual data, enhancing the robustness of the findings.

Evaluating the Role of Public Hearings within Deliberative Democracy: Operationalising the Democratic Standards as a Framework

Public hearings are used widely in policy and decision making. Hearings have been subject to criticisms in some academic quarters. While some of these criticisms are valid, hearings have been overlooked in terms of the democratic value at a relational level. It has been suggested in theory that they are valuable for a deliberative approach to democracy, yet very little evidence exists to support this or to illustrate how hearings can best be utilised as part of a deliberative democratic system. This article contributes to the deliberative literature in two key ways. First, I introduce the democratic standards set out by Smith (2009) in a comparative framework, the Democratic Standard Enactment Index (DSEI), which offers a systematic way to analyse public hearing’s capacity to enact core democratic norms inclusiveness, popular control, transparency and considered judgement. Second, using four case studies, I highlight the strengths and weaknesses of hearings, evaluate how effectively they can be coupled with other democratic institutions, and consider where there are best placed to contribute to a deliberative democratic policy making process. Overall, the democratic norms are consistently fulfilled by the hearings. Their limitations can be overcome by changes to the format and by linking the hearings with other participatory and deliberative processes. The findings provide important nuance to our understanding of the role of public hearings as part of a deliberative democratic system.

DHR‐PA—Democracy and human rights in public administration in Africa

AbstractWhile public administration research has traditionally paid profound attention to democratic values in government‐citizen relations, public institutions are still wrestling with entrenching human rights norms today. This article's Democracy and Human Rights in Public Administration (DHR‐PA) perspective offers a view that a human rights‐anchored reforms agenda may assist with setting the much‐needed tone for realizing democratic norms in African administrative contexts where society is still dealing with extreme forms of human rights abuses. It operationalizes institutional nuances and qualities of democratic and human rights values using Afrobarometer's Round 9 dataset for Namibia, Kenya, and Nigeria. Results show that human rights proclivities of African public administration remain subtle and nebulous despite more targeted DHR‐PA reforms and the creation of institutions like human rights commissions and administrative justice agencies. Overall, for democracy to work, African public administration must acquire and entrench human rights norms and values in its engagements with citizens.Related ArticlesKahn‐Nisser, Sara. 2018. “Constructive Criticism: Shaming, Incentives, and Human Rights Reforms.” Politics & Policy 46(1): 58–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12240.Zavala de Alba, Luis Eduardo. 2012. “Toward an International Implementation of Public Policies in Human Rights: A Necessary Step in Every Democratization Process for Advancements in Economic and Social Rights.” Politics & Policy 40(5): 783–801. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00385.x.Nchofoung, Tii, Simplice Asongu, Vanessa Tchamyou, and Ofeh Edoh. 2022. “Gender, Political Inclusion, and Democracy in Africa: Some Empirical Evidence.” Politics & Policy 51(1): 137–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12505.

Authoritarianism at School: Indoctrination Education, Political Socialisation, and Citizenship in North Korea

ABSTRACT It is well known that North Korea uses political propaganda to elicit popular support, and this article focuses on how primary and secondary schools play an essential role in conveying the regime’s messages. The article asks how this process shapes North Koreans’ perceptions towards citizenship and how their perceptions of ‘democracy’ differ from those in other parts of the world. School education, I argue, socialises North Koreans and shapes their everyday political attitudes and citizenship perceptions. This study examines 32 North Korean Socialist Moral textbooks and identifies four core regime messages embedded in these texts: Personality Cult education in relation to the Kims, promoting socialism, fostering nationalism, and cultivating communitarianism and collectivism. I propose that these regime messages positively and negatively affect perceptions of democratic citizenship. Messages that promote communitarianism can encourage North Koreans to engage in democratic politics, but messages about political leadership, nationalism, and collectivism can hamper North Koreans’ understanding of democracy and their capacity to develop democratic norms. This study has implications for research into how North Korean defectors are integrated into democratic South Korea, suggesting that these defectors’ longstanding exposure to authoritarian education in North Korea will necessarily influence how they conceive of democracy.

Secular Spaces in Israel and Turkey

Abstract This article offers a comparative analysis of Tel Aviv and Izmir based on their urban identities grounded on a secular modernist ideological outlook and a Mediterranean way of life based on egalitarian and democratic norms. These criteria will be operationalized by analyzing the ideological preferences as well possibilities for alternative lifestyles for the residents of both cities. Due to the policies of right-wing governments in both countries, there has been an increasingly overbearing impact of religion in the daily lives of the people and have been undergoing a redefinition of their national identities at the expense of the secular aspects of their national attributes. While a significant number of citizens in both countries have been leaning towards an ethnoreligious worldview, Tel Aviv in Israel and Izmir in Turkey resist such attempts and remain bastions of secularism with their Mediterranean way of life. This study purports to present the similarities and differences between the two cities within their larger conservative setting.

Civil Society Under Attack: The Consequences for Horizontal Accountability Institutions

AbstractExisting research shows that the activity of independent civil society organizations (CSOs) is an important ingredient of democratization and democratic consolidation. Yet, what happens when governments impose restrictions on CSO activity? This manuscript investigates how restrictions on CSOs affect the quality of horizontal accountability institutions like parliaments and courts. CSOs monitor and mobilize against violations of democratic norms. Thus, if governments impose restrictions on CSO activity, they may face fewer barriers (i.e., less scrutiny and criticism) to dismantling horizontal checks and balances. In addition, when restrictions prevent CSOs from supporting horizontal accountability institutions (e.g., with monitoring and expertise), the latter’s ability to control and constrain governments likely declines. Our large-N cross-country analysis supports this argument, suggesting that the imposition of restrictions on CSOs diminishes the quality of horizontal accountability institutions. We examine alternative explanations (i.e., prior autocratization trends and the authoritarian nature of governments) and offer qualitative evidence from Kenya and Turkey to illustrate the expected causal pathways. Our results imply that a crackdown on CSOs serves as a warning sign of deteriorating horizontal oversight.

The Dark Side of Indonesia’s Democracy: Does Pancasila still hold influence?

Indonesia's transition to democracy has been celebrated globally, yet beneath the surface lies a complex interplay between democratic principles and the enduring influence of Pancasila, the state ideology. This paper delves into the less-explored facets of Indonesia's democracy, probing whether Pancasila still exerts significant influence in shaping the country's political landscape. The analysis begins by contextualizing Indonesia's democratic journey, tracing its evolution from the authoritarian era to the present. It then examines the foundational principles of Pancasila and their historical significance, emphasizing its role as a unifying force amidst Indonesia's diverse socio-cultural landscape. Drawing on recent political developments, the paper investigates instances where Pancasila's influence intersects with democratic ideals, as well as instances where tensions arise. It explores how Pancasila has been invoked both to promote national unity and to justify restrictions on dissent and minority rights. Furthermore, the paper assesses the implications of Pancasila's enduring influence on Indonesia's democratic governance, particularly in relation to issues of political pluralism, freedom of expression, and minority rights. It highlights the challenges of reconciling Pancasila's collectivist ethos with democratic principles of individual rights and freedoms. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to a deeper understanding of Indonesia's democracy by shedding light on its complexities and contradictions. It underscores the need for critical reflection on the role of Pancasila in shaping democratic norms and practices, urging for a nuanced approach that upholds democratic principles while honoring Indonesia's unique socio-cultural heritage.

Indonesian Electoral Democracy: Between Pancasila and the Global Perspective

Indonesia's electoral democracy stands at a crossroads, balancing the foundational principles of Pancasila with global democratic norms and practices. This paper examines the dynamics shaping Indonesia's electoral democracy, exploring the tensions and harmonies between Pancasila's ideological framework and international democratic standards. The analysis begins by contextualizing the evolution of Indonesia's electoral democracy, tracing its roots in the post-authoritarian era and the subsequent institutional reforms. It then delves into the core principles of Pancasila, emphasizing its emphasis on collective welfare, social justice, and national unity. Drawing on comparative insights from global electoral democracies, the paper evaluates Indonesia's electoral system in light of international standards of electoral integrity, transparency, and inclusivity. It identifies areas of alignment and dissonance between Pancasila's ethos and global democratic benchmarks. Furthermore, the paper scrutinizes the role of Pancasila in shaping electoral processes, political parties, and voter behavior. It explores how Pancasila's emphasis on consensus-building and inclusivity intersects with the competitive nature of electoral politics. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to a nuanced understanding of Indonesia's electoral democracy, highlighting the complexities of navigating between Pancasila's indigenous values and global democratic imperatives. It underscores the importance of balancing national identity with international best practices to strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of Indonesia's democratic institutions.