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Measuring Democracy
• How can democracy be measured?
Democracy is a complex concept that is difficult to measure and there are many dimensions that fall under what is thought of as democratic freedom. There is a minimalist definition that focuses on whether or not people have the right to vote. However, in my opinion, democracy seems more like it should be rated on a continuum that looks at democracy from a broader perspective.
• Does it make sense to distinguish degrees of democracy when comparing democratic systems?
I believe it does. A democracy that only allows citizens to elect represented leaders is far different from one that allows citizens to participate in the decision making process. There are many relevant distinctions that can be made in countries that are considered democracies and democracy can be considered a multi-dimensional process.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of a minimalist concept of democracy?
The obvious advantage is that it simplifies the concept and makes its application easier. If a country simply allows for the election of leaders then it is a democracy...
However, it does not consider other factors associated with democracy such as a free press or free speech. Thus the minimalist model is relatively limited and this is definitely a disadvantage.
• Are some dimensions of democracy more important than others?
I believe some dimensions are more important than others and I think this is fairly well illustrated by the different democratic models suggested in the text. For example, the Freedom House model is broad and comprehensive and includes everything from rights of minorities to measurements of transparency. The Przeworski et al. model by contrast focuses on simply elections. Therefore elections could be considered the most important dimension and definitely a prerequisite while some of the other dimensions are not quite as critical to deciding if a country is democratic or not.
• Generally speaking, political scientists prefer more precision in measurement to less. But, how can too much precision be a bad thing when it comes to measurement? What does this tell you about the different kinds of measurements (scales and indexes) one might be able to use in…
" (Ahmad, 2000, p. 1). With the main advantage of being democracy's "place of birth," the Western position is extremely firm. John L. Esposito, John O. Voll (1996) state that: "In the current global context, most who advocate democratization still do not recognize it […]as a result, they view people with different interpretations of democracy as "perverse and lunatic," and thus are open to the perils of underestimating the strength of
Democratic Governance Belgian Development Cooperation, (2014). Democratic Governance -- the Key to Development. http://www.btcctb.org/files/web/publication/Democratic%20governance_The%20key%20to%20development.pdf This is a source from the Belgian Development Cooperation and looks at the link between development and democracy. Within the source, there are sample countries that have been used like Congo, Burundi, Belgium and Rwanda to show how democracy and development have been related over time. The article, indeed is a collection f smaller scholarly works by authorities
Shell Oil in Nigeria Discussions on economic hardship, environmental devastation, and political corruption in Nigeria always seem to come back to the Dutch Shell Oil Company. The company is charged by activists and Wiwa as influencing the Nigerian government to act illegally and, if we believe the allegations, monstrously in violation of human rights in order to exploit the oil resources in the Niger River Delta area (Livesey 58; Saro-Wiwa 7).
At the time of this report on October 27, 2010, the Brotherhood spoke out against boycotting the upcoming election, but projected a rather optimistic attitude towards resolving the conflict that confronted them. Still, in light of this optimistic attitude, they did not deny that it would oppose the anti-government in other ways (Arrott). Senior Brotherhood leader, Essam el-Eryan commented, "What is urgent and a priority is to change the
Anderson, RW & Chantal K. 1998, Transition banking: financial development of central and eastern Europe, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Barley, S 1983, Semiotics and the study of occupational and organizational cultures, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol.28, pp.393-413. Blount, E 2004, Bad rap on Russian banking? ABA Banking Journal, no.12, pp.47-52. Brown, J 1987, A review of meta-analyses conducted on psychotherapy outcome research, Clinical Psychology Review, Vol. 7, Issue. 1, pp. 1-23. Bullis, CA & Tompkins, PK
In this sense, it is not simply a matter of theoretical approach, but also one that is accompanied by data. More precisely, for instance, in the 1960s, when, as stated previously, the afflux of the development aid had not been significant, the real GDP per capita was $1,049. Compared to the 1990s when the development aid was more consistent, the real GDP per capita fell to $1,016 and in