The Threat to Young Democracies

Converse, Nathan; Kapstein, Ethan B.

doi:10.1080/00396330802034325

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Not only that, but these failures, when they do occur, typically stem from circumstances or factors beyond the strict purview of democracy. Civil strife, economic recession, all-out war, and sometimes even large-scale natural and human-made catastrophes, for example, are some of the most prominent influences cited by scholars in this respect (see, for example, Crozier, Huntington and Watanuki 1975;Huntington 1991;Diskin, Diskin and Hazan 2005;Converse and Kapstein 2008;Diamond 2008;Kapstein and Converse 2008;Svolik 2008;Stepan 2009a). During all other times, or in hospitable contexts, the assumption is that democracies are built to succeed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sowing the Seeds of Its Own Destruction: Democracy and Democide in the Weimar Republic and Beyond

Chou¹

2012

Theoria

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That all democracies have, by their very nature, the potential to destroy themselves is a fact too rarely documented by the acolytes of democracy. Indeed, in the brief decades since Joseph Goebbels, then as Reich Minister of Propaganda, reminded the world that it 'will always remain one of the best jokes of democracy, that it gave its deadly enemies the means by which it was destroyed', democrats have quickly forgotten just how precarious a thing democracy can be. The objective of this article is to entertain the underexplored notion that democratic failure is a possibility that remains very much entrenched within the idea and ideal of democracy itself. Using the breakdown of democracy during the Weimar Republic as a brief illustrative example, the article first describes the process through which a democracy can self-destruct before offering a theoretical explanation of why this is so -one which draws its inspiration from the dual notions of autonomy and tragedy. By doing this, it will hope to have shown just how a democracy can, in the course of being democratic no less, sow the seeds of its own destruction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Sowing the Seeds of Its Own Destruction: Democracy and Democide in the Weimar Republic and Beyond

Chou¹

2012

Theoria

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“…Further, as a result of governments' poor economic performance, underdeveloped party and parliamentary politics, and overdependence on a few charismatic individuals, political instability in some of these countries is rising. Thus, there is scepticism about whether newborn democracies can be stabilised (Elster et al 1998;Kapstein and Converse 2008;Converse and Kapstein 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Does a Newborn Democracy Fail? Evidence from South Korea’s Second Democratic Regime, 1960-1961

Heo¹

2019

IJAPS

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This paper aims to discuss when a newborn democracy fails to develop itself towards consolidation, by examining a case of South Korea's second democratic regime launched in 1960. This regime offers an interesting case to study since it lasted only about a year despite active democratic reforms. This paper argues that, for democratic consolidation to succeed, a newborn democracy should be sustainable, which can be attained through the efforts of both government and civil society to enroot democratic norms in their country. This requires more than just an enhancement of the level of democracy via institutional efforts. This paper presents a theoretical framework that highlights the tasks necessary for both government and civil society to make a newborn democracy sustainable. Per this framework, it examines the Korean case and discovers that both the government and civil society in 1960 negated those tasks. Finally, it concludes with implications in the light of the appearance of many newborn democracies in the late twentieth century that have followed bumpy roads towards democratic consolidation.

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“…This indicates that approximately 30 percent of countries ranked as "Free" democracies are underperforming on media freedom. Identifying the 26 countries in this category also reveals that the majority are nations that political science literature refers to as "young democracies," generally defined as states that adopted democratic forms of government at some point after 1960 (Converse & Kapstein, 2008). Figure 3 shows the countries from various geographic regions placed in that category.…”

Section: Expected and Unexpected Relationships Between Democracy And ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The organization defines democracy as consisting of two dimensions: Political liberties, which include a free electoral process, political pluralism and participation, and a functioning government; and civil liberties, which include freedom of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, respect for the rule of law, personal autonomy, and individual rights. This study does use the term "young democracy," which Converse and Kapstein (2008), who conducted extensive scholarly work on the subject, describe as "states that adopted democratic forms of government at some point since 1960." They point to how data sets have historically tended to lump together democracies before and after that year.…”

Section: Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Limiting media freedom in democratic states

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The Threat to Young Democracies

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Sowing the Seeds of Its Own Destruction: Democracy and Democide in the Weimar Republic and Beyond

Sowing the Seeds of Its Own Destruction: Democracy and Democide in the Weimar Republic and Beyond

When Does a Newborn Democracy Fail? Evidence from South Korea’s Second Democratic Regime, 1960-1961

Limiting media freedom in democratic states

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