Democratization Research Articles

The Impact of the French Revolution to the Great Reform Act

This study delves into the intricate relationship between the French Revolution and the Reform Act of 1832, exploring how revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality, evolving class dynamics, and shifting socio-political contexts shaped political reform in early 19th-century Britain. The passage focuses on two main questions. Firstly, on an ideological level, how did the shock of the French Revolution impact the attitudes of various political powers in the UK towards democratic reforms? Secondly, how did the French Revolution influence the attitudes of different social classes in the UK? By examining the attitudes of different social classes, contentious debates over voting procedures, and various forces for change, this research illuminates the multifaceted impact of the French Revolution on Britain's path to reform.

The Arab Spring and the Prolonged National Integration in Yemen; a Critical Discussion

This study examines how the Arab Spring affects the national integration in Yemen. Despite the Arab Spring’s bringing forth tangible democratic transitions through inclusive democratic elections in Tunisia and Egypt, it created a social and political divide more than the previous time through diminishing the likelihood of national integration in Yemen. Some scholarly debates ascribe Arab Spring to Yemen’s lagging for national integration. However, others are on the opinion that Yemen never could realize a sustainable national integration due to its going through a perennial authoritarian or autocratic rule like some other Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and a long territorial and ideological division, as well as manifold power-seeking sections. The Arab Spring just exacerbated the remaining disintegration. This study holds on to the latter consideration and firstly, discusses the pre-Arab Spring territorial and political schism in Yemen. Then, it examines facts that triggered political fragmentation and instability in Yemen during and in the aftermath of the Arab Spring leaving little hope for the country to step into a successful national integration in near future. The main aim of this paper is to illustrate how a regional or global event impact potential national integration of a country that is heavily divided socially, politically, and ideologically along with corruption and state controlled civil society.

The Emergence and Stability of Political Family Networks (PFNs) in Banten Province, Indonesia

The emergence of political family networks (PFNs) is an anomaly in Indonesian democracy post-New Order authoritarianism. This article discusses the emergence of political family networks in Banten Province, Indonesia, and how they maintained stability and stayed in power for over two decades. The research data, crucial for our comprehensive understanding, were collected through rigorous, in-depth interviews with key informants in Banten. Observation and study of documents were also carried out during the process of collecting data in the field. The result of the study shows that in the two decades since the 1998 democratic transition, as many as five PFNs emerged and existed in Banten Province. However, the role of local strongman Tubagus Chasan Shohib, who leveraged his social and political influence, became the most intriguing aspect of this study. His influence was critical in this region's emergence and consolidation of PFNs. Stability in the political arena was built through the strengthening of social bonds and transactional, as well as the spread of institutions in a mimetic, normative, and coercive manner.

O Chang-gun’s Toenail and the Canonization of Korean Theater Since South Korean Society’s Democratic Transition

O Chang-gun’s Toenail and the Canonization of Korean Theater Since South Korean Society’s Democratic Transition

티베트 역사 기억과 민족의 정체성

This study examines the historical memories and national identity of Tibetans in the novel 『Turbulent Shambhala』, written by Tashi Dawa, a contemporary Tibetan author. The lives and history of Tibetans have undergone major changes through the Democratic Reform Movement in 1959 and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. Using a unique Magical Realism technique, Tashi Dawa tries to recall the historical memories of Tibetans from that time and to find their identity in those memories. In particular, he utilizes the concepts of ‘reincarnation’ and ‘karma’ from Buddhism as magical elements. Thus, he uses magical elements to show how Tibetans view their forgotten history. It was confirmed that the loss experienced by Tibetans in the face of historical difficulties and social realities caused deep divisions and conflicts within Tibetan society, manifesting as neglect and indifference towards history, as well as conflict and criticism. The ambiguous delineation between reality and fantasy served as a means to induce change and reflection in the real world, ultimately reflecting the Tibetan desire to transcend the wounds and pains of reality.

Tunisian and US journalism students: A comparison of journalism degree motivations and role conceptions

This study assesses journalism student motivations and role conceptions among Tunisian and US students to compare aspiring journalists in a country with well-established free-press norms to those in a transitional democracy with a recent history of authoritarianism. Results suggest that Tunisian journalism students are more interested than US journalism students in covering public affairs and using their work to fight social injustice. A Tunisian drive toward public-service journalism is consistent with these socially conscious inclinations.

Între ideologie și identitate culturală (Piese cu tematică istorică la Teatrul de Stat din Sfântu Gheorghe, în anii 1960-1970)

In the context of political liberalization in the 1960s, Hungarians in Romania, taking advantage of new cultural opportunities, quickly adapted to the new conditions. After the administrative reform, following cultural concessions, a phenomenon similar to that in Romania of reinventing and reproducing the historical past took place in Hungarian cultural institutions. Theatre played an important role in this cultural phenomenon. The State Theatre of Sfântu Gheorghe participated very actively in all the cultural initiatives to promote ethnocultural identity and local values initiated by the new political and cultural elite in Covasna County, founded in 1968. The main aim was therefore to rediscover, care for and promote the local historical past (Transylvanian and Szekler) in the context of the cultural policy of the time and the communist ideology through historical plays. The success, or lack thereof, of these plays should be sought in this context rather than in their literary and dramatic value. The theatre of Sfântu Gheorghe, in search of new forms after 1968, took up, accepted these plays, these historical themes, managed to slip them through the institutions of censorship and put them on stage. These plays are characterized by a lack of professional maturity, by ideological clichés. They are telling examples of how and to what extent the local Hungarian intelligentsia tried and failed to adapt to the new cultural conditions in the country, in these political-ideological conditions, how it tried to find Hungarian cultural alternatives and to what extent it managed to process and stage these themes.

Explaining the distinction between religious and political activism in Islamism: evidence from the Tunisian case

AbstractTunisia's Islamist movement Ennahda has announced a separation of political and religious work, apparently reinforcing a “post-Islamist” argument that Islamic parties have left behind religious mobilization. However, the boundary between religious and political fields is highly porous. We ask why the distinction between religious and political activism remains a point of ambiguity within Islamism. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 48 men and women who participated in the movement in the 1970s and 1980s in Tunis and Sousse, we develop a microlevel explanation of Islamist mobilization. We argue that religious and social Islamist activism is replete with political intent, which worked through three mechanisms: a counter-hegemonic ideology, an activist engagement in social transformation, and a formal organization. These findings add empirical insights to the case of Ennahda, provide leverage in explaining the politicization of Salafist movements, and underscore the legacy of asymmetric party capacities in shaping outcomes in a democratic transition.

The Characteristics of the Political Culture of Modern Vietnam

The article examines the complex of historical and cultural conditions which have determined the current state of Vietnam's political culture. The author uses Talcott Parsons' definition of “political culture” and analyzes its main elements in relation to Vietnam. The article presents key aspects of the formation of the political culture of Vietnam, features of the political culture of modern Vietnam, as well as views on the legitimacy of the rule of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Factors contributing to the preservation of the authoritarian political system were identified, the prospects for possible democratic transition were assessed.

Income, growth, and democracy looking for the main causal directions in the nexus

The development of the political system of countries is noisy, but in the longer run a strong relation to the economy emerges in the cross-country data for income, growth, and the main democracy indices. Two main theories explain these relations: (α) starts from the strong correlation between income and democracy, seeing income as the causal variable. It is the democratic transition, which is the political part of the theory of the grand transition. (β) starts from the much weaker correlation between democracy and economic growth, seeing democracy as the causal variable. This is a part of the primacy-of-institutions theory, where the political system is a key institution. The discussion needs (λ) a link-relation between growth and income. It connects the (α) and (β) theories, so that one may explain the other. The analysis looks at all six possible univariate relations between the three variables using kernel regressions on a large, unified data set. This method gives a clear picture. The strong α-relation can indeed explain the weak β-relation as spurious, but the weak β-relation predicts that the α-relation is very weak. Thus, (α) encompasses (β), but not vice versa.

An anarchist take on royalty: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s evolving assessment of post-revolutionary monarchy, 1839–64. Part II

ABSTRACT This second half of a two-part essay examines how Proudhon’s ideas about monarchy changed during his 1858–62 Belgian exile and further evolved upon his return to France around the time of the 1863 legislative elections. If Proudhon justified monarchy’s role in state formation in the French pre-revolutionary past, he did not want the political liberalization of the Second Empire to lead to a return to a regime ressembling the July Monarchy. He attempted in the final years of his life to develop a theory of constitutional evolution which could explain France’s internal political evolution since 1789 and Europe’s geopolitical evolution since the Vienna Settlement. This theory was designed to indicate why the teleological logic at work in both national and international developments since the French Revolution spelled the death knell for Napoleon III’s regime and pre-empted any regression to those political constitutions which came before the February 1848 Revolution in France. While developing these reflections, Proudhon continued to imagine alternative forms of political and social representation anticipating and influencing the way in which later theories of federalism and corporatism were discussed during the French Third Republic in a context of general dissatisfaction with parliamentary democracy.

Intelligence Interconnection in The Democratic Transition in Indonesia

Intelligence Interconnection in The Democratic Transition in Indonesia

Development and Dilemmas of Mass Democratic Identity Construction in the Context of the Myanmar Coup: An Analysis of Political Narratives

This study examines the process of mass democratic identity construction in Myanmar and delineates the distinct characteristics of the government's political narratives during the period of Myanmar's democratic reform. The research finds that Myanmar managed to establish a democratic identity that continues to exhibit resilience in the aftermath of the coup. This resilience, observed at the level of political narratives, can be attributed to the transcultural features of ideological construction and the prominent influence of Buddhism, both well-suited to Myanmar's deep-seated social and religious foundations. However, following the coup, the loss of agency by the original narrative source, combined with the long-standing issues within Burmese society, has resulted in several political dilemmas hampering the development of democratic consciousness. These dilemmas are characterized by an immature democratic political culture, underdeveloped civil society, and frequent ethnic conflicts. The underlying reasons for these challenges can be traced back to the limitations of democratic political culture during Myanmar's democratic reform period and the absence of historical and cultural foundations in the country's democratic political system, which may constrain the long-term development of democratic consciousness following changes in the power structure.

Democratic Transition or Autocratic Adjustment? Constitutional Amendments in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in 2022–2023

Central Asian states have recently implemented significant constitutional reforms. In the case of the authoritarian republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the nature of the constitutional amendments, introduced in 2022 and 2023, respectively, is hard to accurately assess. On the one hand, they are a step towards democratization and strengthened guarantees of human rights and freedoms; on the other, they reinforce the current undemocratic government mechanisms. This article discusses the most recent constitutional reforms in both countries, distinguishing three main areas of change: ideology, social issues, and governance mechanisms. It is argued that these reforms generally fall within the paradigm of authoritarian constitutionalism and are an adjustment of the countries’ constitutions to the current needs of their undemocratic presidents.

Power sharing with weak institutions

Democratic transitions, franchise extensions, and civil war settlements can often be seen as power-sharing agreements in which opposing factions try to use institutional structures to ‘lock in’ the terms of a settlement. But the commitment power inherent in institutions varies. When the institutional environment is weak and credibility is low, it is difficult for a powerful elite to tie its hands and give up power. This article studies a window-of-opportunity model in which an enfranchised elite faces a periodic threat. Institutional weakness is parameterized in terms of the elite’s marginal return to trying to undermine a power-sharing agreement. The analysis shows that (i) bargaining breaks down if the overall institutional environment is too weak and why it does; (ii) equilibrium agreements share more power with the opposition when the institutional environment is weak; (iii) there is a non-monotonic relation between power sharing and how often the opposition poses a threat; and (iv) power sharing is path dependent.

Analyzing the Development of Political Rights and Civil Liberties in Albania during the Country’s Democratic Transition: A Comparative Assessment from Freedom House Report Data

A nation's ability to develop directly correlates with the preservation of citizens' political rights and civil liberties. These elements are vital for national growth and development. The level of respect for these rights and liberties must, therefore, be examined to understand and assist in the progress of a nation. A primary source of analysis for this study is Freedom House reports, with a focus on two essential components of democracy: political rights and civil liberties. The study focuses on investigating democratization from the start of political reforms in Albania following the collapse of the communist system to this present day. These parameters are further divided into subgroups to provide more detailed analysis. By using the Freedom House index, the study aims to determine whether democratic characteristics in Albania have remained constant or undergone changes. The analysis incorporates developments in these dimensions during the transition, focusing specifically on minority groups, such as voting patterns, political pluralism, freedom of expression and associations, etc. Moreover, the study examines specific areas of concern in Albanian society, including corruption, the rule of law, and other important areas.
 
 Received: 19 February 2024 / Accepted: 15 March 2024 / Published: 23 March 2024

The Need to Overcome the Cultural Hegemony of the West in Political Science on The Example of the Problem of Contemporary Islamist Terrorism

Using the example of the problem of contemporary terrorism, the article raises the question of the need to overcome the dependence of Russian science on the hegemony of the West. In the world in general and in Russia in particular, the period of admiration for the Western concept of liberal democracy and the concepts of globalization, human rights, soft power, civil society, democratic transition, terrorism, hybrid wars, etc., developed by liberal thought, is coming to an end. These theories are increasingly less accepted in as normative, universal, whose implementation necessarily requires Western supervision. These theories, developed during a unique historical process in Western countries, cannot be adequately applied to determine the direction of development of non-Western countries. In this study, we consider the problem of contemporary Islamist terrorism as a concrete example of the need for a critical revision of Western ideas. To do this, we turn to the ideas of a number of Russian authors, as well as Western representatives of postmodernism, neo-Marxism and left-radical thought, who sharply criticize the basic dogmas of Western liberal political science. This allows us to conclude that Islamist terrorism is not the result of the activities of individual radicals or a manifestation of the aggressive nature of Islam, but is reproduced by the conflict system of modern international relations. Thus, Islamist terrorism as a radical form of politicization of Islam is most often a reaction of the Muslim world to Western globalism, to the crisis of a number of Muslim societies as a result of Western intervention. The system-functional approach makes it possible to understand the place and role of Islamist terrorism in contemporary hybrid wars, which the West uses to maintain its global empire. Islamist terrorism can be viewed as an element of a system of hybrid wars. In this system, along with Islamist terrorism, there is an important phenomenon of combating it - anti-terrorism, and also, along with Islamist terrorism as the activity of non-governmental armed groups, there is state terrorism, mainly carried out by Western states.

Parliamentary questions, institutional change, and legislative oversight in a non‐Western context

AbstractThis study examines how the Federal National Council (FNC), the parliament of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), transformed from a consultative body to a legislative institution through gradual and incremental changes. It argues that the increasing number of parliamentary questions led to legal, procedural, and behavioral changes in the FNC, influenced by external (government support and public pressure) and internal (rationality, competence, incrementalism, and system development) factors. The success of this transformation is attributed to its gradual nature. Anticipating continued momentum, the study outlines future prospects shaped by the UAE government's commitment to FNC empowerment, heightened public expectations, and the influx of educated and experienced individuals into parliamentary roles. This ongoing institutional change reflects a responsive adaptation to evolving governance demands in the UAE. The study contributes to the theory of institutions and the understanding of legislative oversight in newly liberalized political systems.Related ArticlesAntwi‐Boateng, Osman, and Noura Hamad Salim Al Jaberi. 2022. “The Post‐Oil Strategy of the UAE: An Examination of Diversification Strategies and Challenges.” Politics & Policy 50(2): 380–407. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12457.Jouini, Nizar, and Manel Ben Akal. 2022. “Political Consensus, Economic Reforms, and Democratic Transitions in the Middle East: Evidence from Voting on Tunisian Reform Bills.” Politics & Policy 50(4): 851–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12489.Sarquís, David J. 2012. “Democratization after the Arab Spring: The Case of Egypt's Political Transition.” Politics & Policy 40(5): 871–903. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00381.x.

The Islamic Cultural Heritage as a “Problem”: Is Arab Political Science Culturalist?

The study of political culture in the Arab world presents us with a paradox: albeit cultural explanations of Arab politics by Western scholars (e.g., Huntington 1993) have been widely criticized from within the region as latter-day Orientalist views, the cultural approach remains one of the leading analytical approaches employed in Arab social sciences. Central to this tradition is the idea that Arab societies have specific cultural characteristics that contribute to, or are the cause of, the region’s general “backwardness,” especially politically. Collectively known as critics of al-turāth (cultural heritage), this school of thought sparked important scholarly debates in Arab academic circles. This paper reflects on these debates, mainly focusing on how Arab political science, broadly defined, has considered the role of culture as a potential explanatory variable for the endurance of authoritarianism in the Arab world and the failure of democratic transitions. Several influential Arab intellectuals adopt the cultural approach, but they do not necessarily define culture in static, primordial, or fixed terms. If Arab political culture is deemed problematic, it can still be changed. For this academic tradition, the “critical intellectual” is a central agent for any sociocultural and political change.

Losing support to democracy: Political socialization, popular conceptualizations, and the formation of political grievances among marginalized youth in Tunisia

ABSTRACT Given incumbent-led autocratization in Tunisia, the article investigates support to democracy among youth in historically marginalized regions and the likelihood they will prefer the authoritarian alternative. Putting forth a framework for micro-level assessment of the cognitive and interpretive dynamics generating loss of popular support to democratic transition, the research problematizes the relationship between political socialization, the conceptualization of democracy, and the formation of political grievances. Drawing on 12 focus group discussions held in six cities in early 2021, the article finds that political learning occurs through observation of unfolding processes via the media/social media in a highly polarized public sphere. As a result, youth understand democracy as the substantive outcome of extended rights, , and judge democracy based on what these extensions produce. The research finds three primary political grievances that are framed as anti-establishment and not as a preference for authoritarianism. Nonetheless, the research also finds that within their conceptualization of democracy are preferences for its limitation in both procedural and substantive dimensions. The article extends the research agenda on support to authoritarian backsliding by demonstrating how modes of political learning shape popular understandings, and assessing the implications of these understanding in terms of authoritarian legitimation.