LIBERAL AND ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY

READINGS

• Smith, Democracy, chs. 9-10

• Modern Latin America, ch. 4 (Central America)

• CR #2: Smith, “The People’s Verdict”

• NB: Optional paper due May 25

OUTLINE

• Social Equity– Workers– Women– Indigenous Peoples

• Illiberal Democracy– Press Freedom– Citizen Rights

Table 9-1. Employment and Wages in Latin America, 1980-1999

1980 1990 1995 1999

Unemployment (%) 6.7 8.0 7.2 8.8

Real Wages(1980=100) 100.0 86.6 92.4 102.9

Real Minimum Wage(1980 = 100) 100.0 68.4 70.8 73.8

Table 9-2. Women in Latin American Legislatures, 1990 and 2000

______Women (as % total)*_____Country_______ ___1990___ ___2000___Argentina 5 27Bolivia 9 12Brazil 5 6Chile 6 11Colombia 9 12Costa Rica 12 19Dominican Republic 12 16Ecuador 7 15El Salvador -- 10Guatemala 7 9Honduras -- 9Mexico 12 16Nicaragua 19 10Panama 8 10Paraguay 4 3Peru 6 20Uruguay 6 12Venezuela 10 10

Women Presidents

• Generation I: Widows– Isabel Martínez de Perón (Argentina)– Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (Nicaragua)– Mireya Moscoso (Panama)

• Generation II: Self-Made Politicians– Michelle Bachelet (Chile)– Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica)– Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina)– Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

Indigenous Peoples

• Bolivia: Party Politics (and Evo Morales!)

• Ecuador: Social Movements

• Guatemala: Political Redemption?

• Peru: Silence and Sendero Luminoso

• Mexico: Zapatista Uprising

DETECTING ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY

The Rise of Electoral Democracy, 1972-2004

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Year

N C

ou

ntr

ies

Autocracy

Semidemocracy

Democracy

Journalists Killed in Latin America, 1990-1999

Country___ __ N Killings__Colombia 36Peru 12Mexico 10Brazil 8Haiti 4Argentina 3Guatemala 3Venezuela 2Chile 1Dominican Republic 1Honduras 1Paraguay 1

Total 82

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists, Attacks on the Press in 1999 (New York: CPJ, 2000), 23.

Table 10-2. Electoral Regimes and Freedom of the Press, 1990s

_________________Regime____________________ Press____ Autocracy Semi-Democracy Democracy Not Free 1 5 2 Partly Free 1 26 51 Free 0 0 47

Totals 2 31 100

THE CONCEPT OF ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACY

•Distinct Dimensions of Democracy:

Free and Fair Elections Citizen Rights

•Systematic Curtailment of Citizen Rights

•Connection to “Delegative Democracy” (see p. 13)

• FH scores of 1-2 = Extensive

• FH scores of 3-4 = Partial

• FH scores of 5-7 = Minimal

CLASSIFYING CITIZEN RIGHTS (Freedom House scales for “Civil Liberties”)

Table 1. Democracy, Elections, and Citizen Rights: A Typology

Citizen Rights Character of Elections

Free and Fair Free not Fair None

Expansive Liberal Democracy Liberal/Permissive Semidemocracy

(Null)

Limited Illiberal Democracy

Illiberal/Restrictive Semidemocracy

ModerateDictablanda

Minimal (Null) Repressive Semidemocracy

Hard-LineDictadura

Rights and Freedoms

Extensive Liberal Democracy

Partial Traditional Autocracy(Dictablanda)

Illiberal Democracy

Minimal Hard-Line Autocracy(Dictadura)

Autocracy Semi-Democracy Democracy

Elections

Elections, Rights, and Political Regimes

Liberal and Illiberal Democracy, 1978-2004

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004

Year

N De

moc

raci

es Illiberal

Liberal

Table 1-2. Electoral Regimes and Civil Liberties, 1970s-2000 1972-79 Electoral Type Status of Civil Liberties* Dictatorship Semi-Democracy Democracy Minimal 22 0 0 Partial 88 3 10 Expansive 0 1 28 Totals 110 4 38

gamma = +.994

*Categorized as follows: Expansive=Freedom House scores of 1 or 2; Partial – Freedom House scores of 3-5; Minimal=Freedom House scores of 6-7.

1980-1989

________________Regime___________________Civil Liberties___ Autocracy Semi-Democracy Democracy

Minimal 15 1 0 Partial 59 30 41 Extensive 1 4 39

Totals 75 35 80

1990-2000

_________________Regime_________________Civil Liberties___ Autocracy Semi-Democracy Democracy

Minimal 3 0 0 Partial 4 53 109 Extensive 0 2 38

Totals 7 55 147

Figure 10-1. The Progression of Illiberal Democracy, 1970s-2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1972-79 1980-89 1990-2000

Period

Per

cent

Partial Civil Liberties

Expansive Civil Liberties

Political Regimes in 1999: Countries and Population

N %Regime Type___ __Countries__ __Population__

Liberal Democracy 3 <5

Illiberal Democracy 11 60

Illiberal Semi-Democracy 5 33

Autocracy 1 2

Why Illiberal Democracy?

• Protection of elite interests

• Control of popular masses

• Under rubric of free and fair elections

SO WHAT?CYCLES OF MASS POLITICS

– Unfettered and “dangerous” democracy (e.g., reformists + Allende) [1950s-]

– Military coups and authoritarian regimes [1960s-]

– Democracy contained [1980s-]:• Neoliberal economics, Washington consensus• Institutional constraints (e.g. MRO)• Illiberal democracy

– Rise of the “new Left” [1990s-]

The End