Myths of Moderation: Confrontation and Conflict during Democratic Transitions

The State-Society Interaction in the Process of Taiwan’s Democratization from 1990 to 1992

“…As Dankwart Rustow ([34], 355-356) argues, the goal of full democracy is achieved through a process of conscious decision-making in which the ruling elites in the authoritarian state "accept the existence of diversity in unity and, to that end, to institutionalize some crucial aspect of democratic procedure." There are also arguments that the issue about how countries democratize is about how the ruling elites in the state calculate the costs of toleration and the costs of repression before making a decision on what strategy they should apply to deal with the opposition forces in society (e.g., [1]). …”

The Accountability Sequence: From De-jure to De-facto Constraints on Governments

“…Solidarity in Poland, the African National Congress in South Africa) have often been necessary conditions for democratic change in many countries. Yet, the "moderation argument" (Bermeo 1997) poses that mass popular action needs to be curbed around the moment of transition in order for democratization to succeed (e.g. Karl 1990, Weiner 1987, Huntington 1984, Valenzuela 1989).…”

Top incomes and earnings in Portugal 1936–2005

“…Individual are classified in two groups: those having income from wages and pension only, on the one side, and those having income also from other sources. Portugal, Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Estatísticas das Receitas Fiscais, 1989-1995, 1997, 1998. Tabulations for 2001, 2002and 2003 were provided by the tax agency of Portugal, based on internal reports.…”

“…By the mid 1990s only one tenth of the expropriated estates was still in possession of collective farms. 5 See Bermeo, 1997. new insights on the relationships between the political regimes and the evolution of income concentration.…”