Bi-Weekly Discussion - Are We In A Global "Democratic Recession"?
Details
We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, not too far from our summer meeting spot in Washington Square Park. The cafe is near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
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MEASURING DEMOCRACY & THE "DEMOCRATIC RECESSION"
INTRODUCTION:
Following on our last two meetups which looked at attempts to measure human freedom, social progress, and collective happiness, this discussion will look at the various attempts of political scientists to measure & analyzing the components of democracy. We'll look at the Democracy Index, an international ranking compiled by the UK-based "Economist Intelligence Unit" (EIU) that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries around the world. The first & second sections of our discussion will focus on the technical problems of defining & measuring the various components that make up what political scientists refer to as "democracy", and determining the extent to which these components of democracy correlate with the components of economic freedom, personal freedom, social progress & happiness that we discussed at our last 2 meetups.
We'll also consider the political sociologist Larry Diamond's theory that democracy has been in a global "recession" since the mid 2000s. Consider that in 1974, nearly three-quarters of all countries were dictatorships; today, more than half are democracies. Yet recent efforts to promote democracy (e.g. the Iraq War, the Arab Spring) have stumbled, and many democratic governments are faltering. According to Freedom House, 2007 was the worst year for freedom since the end of the Cold War -- 38 countries declined in their freedom scores, and only 10 improved. The third & fourth sections of our discussion will focus on why this might be happening and how it could be effecting the democratic process in the United States.
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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:
The videos you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of the ways that political scientists try to analyze & measure democracy. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just read the numbered videos linked under each section - this should take about 54 minutes total to get through. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.
In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the 4 topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section. I've listed questions under each section which we'll do our best to address.
SHOULD WE REFER TO EVERY SOCIETY THAT HOLDS ELECTIONS AS A "DEMOCRACY", OR DOES IT REQUIRE SOMETING MORE? HOW CRITICAL ARE "CIVIL LIBERTIES", "CIVIL SOCIETY" AND "RULE OF LAW" TO DEMOCRACY? HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO MEASURE THE FACTORS THAT COMPRISE LIBERAL DEMOCRACY?
1a) Scott Godfrey, "Components of Democracy" (video - 5:11 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNCi2jRsri4
b) Hans Roling,"Human rights & democracy statistics" (video - 9:51 min, start at 1:51)
https://youtu.be/QNX31t7Cees?t=111
- Larry Diamond, "What is Democracy?"
https://web.stanford.edu/~ldiamond/iraq/WhaIsDemocracy012004.htm
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Ilya Lozovsky, "Freedom by the Numbers. Freedom House’s index of freedom in the world is flawed — but the story it tells is indispensable"
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/29/freedom-by-the-numbers-freedom-house-in-the-world/ -
Sarah Bush, "The Politics of Rating Freedom: Ideological Affinity, Private Authority, and the Freedom in the World Ratings"
http://www.politicalsciencenow.com/the-politics-of-rating-freedom-ideological-affinity-private-authority-and-the-freedom-in-the-world-ratings/ -
Seva Gunitsky, "How do you measure ‘democracy’?"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2015/06/23/how-do-you-measure-democracy/?utm_term=.dafadb93e906 -
Axel Hadenius & Jan Teorell, "Assessing Alternative Indices of Democracy"
http://www.concepts-methods.org/Files/WorkingPaper/PC%206%20Hadenius%20Teorell.pdf
HOW DO DEMOCRACY RANKINGS CORRELATE WITH ECONOMIC FREEDOM, PERSONAL FREEDOM, SOCIAL PROGRESS & HAPPINESS? DOES DEMOCRACY HELP ECONOMIC GROWTH -- AND CONVERSELY, DOES ECONOMIC GROWTH LEAD TO DEMOCRACY? HOW DOES THE "DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION" INFLUENCE DEMOCRATIZATION?
- Yasheng Huang, "Does democracy stifle economic growth?" (video - 18:51 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR-uWwvpn5c
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Anders Corr, "GDP Per Capita and Democracy Explain 87% of the Social Progress Index"
http://www.jpolrisk.com/gdp-per-capita-and-democracy-explain-87-of-the-social-progress-index/ -
Kevin A. Hassett, "Does Economic Success Require Democracy? Sadly, no. In fact, the politically unfree countries are enjoying more economic growth than the politically free ones."
http://www.aei.org/publication/does-economic-success-require-democracy/ -
Isabella Teti, "The Correlation Between Democracy and Happiness"
http://sites.psu.edu/tetirclblog/2015/10/12/the-correlation-between-democracy-and-happiness/
- Jay Ulfelder, "Democracy and Demography Revisited"
https://dartthrowingchimp.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/demography-and-democracy-revisited/
IS THERE A GLOBAL "DEMOCRATIC RECESSSION"? SHOULD WE BLAME GLOBALIZATION, IMMIGRATION, WAGE STAGNATION, OR SOMETHING ELSE? HOW CAN POPULISM LEAD TO "ILLIBERAL DEMOCRACIES"? HOW CAN TECHNOCRACY LEAD TO "POST-DEMOCRACY" (A.K.A. "UNDEMOCRATIC LIBERALISM")?
3a) Freedom House, "Why is democracy declining worldwide?" (video - 2:50 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mo9cYPF5dU
3b) Fareed Zakaria & Yascha Mounk, "The Crisis of Liberal Democracy" (video - 7:13 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GwmHJkyvUQ
- Catharin E. Dalpino, "Does Globalization Promote Democracy?: An early assessment [in 2001]"
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/does-globalization-promote-democracy-an-early-assessment/
- Yascha Mounk, "The Week Democracy Died - Dark days this summer showed how government by the people—beset by illiberal populists on one side and undemocratic elites on the other—is poised for extinction."
- John O'Sullivan, "The Misunderstood Nature of Populism - It’s not a threat to democracy but a salve"
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/452673/populism-no-threat-democracy-its-salve
- Jay Ulfelder, "The World Isn’t Less Free Than It Used To Be"
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-world-isnt-less-free-than-it-used-to-be/
IS THE EIU CORRECT THAT AMERICA HAS DECLINED INTO A "FLAWED DEMOCRACY"? WHAT TYPE OF DYSFUNCTIONS IN OUR GOVERNMENT MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR THIS? HOW DOES POLITICAL POLARIZATION & PUBLIC CYNICISM PLAY INTO THIS? HOW DOES THE "BRIGHT LINE WATCH" THINK AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IS FARING AFTER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S FIRST YEAR? IS TRUMP A THREAT TO LIBERAL DEMOCRACY, OR IS THE DEEP STATE THE TRUE THREAT?
4a) Katie Link, "US Downgraded to 'Flawed Democracy'" (video - 1:19 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvf24pfT81M
4b) Democracy Now, "Greenwald: Empowering the "Deep State" to Undermine Trump is Prescription for Destroying Democracy" (video - 10:29 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY1MiNfwcRg
- Zach Beauchamp, "A new study shows American democracy is getting weaker. And not because of Trump"
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/1/25/14385728/economist-intelligence-unit-american-democracy-2016
- Julia Azari, "Has the Trump administration crossed the 'bright lines' of democracy? Or is the problem something else?"
- Samuel Moyn & David Priestland, "Trump Isn't A Threat To Democracy. Hysteria Is."
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/opinion/sunday/trump-hysteria-democracy-tyranny.html?_r=0
- Dan Nexon, "Yes, Trump Is A Threat To Liberal Democracy. And You Should Be Worried"
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/08/yes-trump-threat-liberal-democracy-worried
- Andrew Gelman, "The Bad Research Behind the Bogus Claim That North Carolina Is No Longer a Democracy -- No, North Korea isn’t more democratic than the Tar Heel State."
Bi-Weekly Discussion - Are We In A Global "Democratic Recession"?