Browsing by Subject "democratization"
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(2010)This thesis explores democratization in contemporary Tunisia through three hypotheses and their critics from independent in 1956 to the post-transitional state it is in 2018. The thesis is a single case study and the method used is process tracing. The first hypothesis explored in the thesis claims that democratization springs above all from a change in values from traditional to modern and subsequently to post-modern. The fundamental causal claims of the thesis are based on the research of American political scientist Ronald Inglehart. The second hypothesis, claims that that a changes in the socio-economic fabric of society along with political contestation would be the most effective factors to promote democratization. This hypothesis in turn is rooted in the works of Barrington Moore Jr. The third, and last hypothesis is based on the notion, that economic development would have the most explanatory power with regards to democratization. This hypothesis in turn is based on research by Seymour Martin Lipset. In addition, the thesis also includes a segment addressing the reasons to why the Tunisian transitions succeeded. The reason to choosing Tunisia as a case, includes that it constitutes a recent case and somewhat of an outlier, through which one can explore theories of democratization and transitions along with their appropriate methods and measurements. Hence an indirect aim of the thesis is also to stimulating the discussion on how to better promote and conceptualize a system of governance, which is considered the best in guaranteeing human development, peace and sustainability.
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(2017)Population size is one of the most discussed topics historically in its relation to democracy. Interestingly, however, despite the plethora of debates and studies there seem to be little academic consensus on the topic, both theoretically and empirically. On the one hand, early theorists such as Aristotle, Plato, Rousseau, and Montesquieu, have considered a small population size as indispensable for a democracy, for utilities such as the citizens’ ability to participate, or comprehend the common affairs. On the other hand, later theorists have stressed the utility of large population size to democracy, due to an increased likelihood for a diversity of opinions, and thus more checks, balances, and safeguards against factions’ tyranny and minority abuse. In a similar manner, in contemporary studies there is a common notion of a formula that ‘small is democratic’, mainly referring to the larger share of representative democracies among small states in comparison to larger states. Contrastingly, several studies have highlighted other ‘informal’ and arguably detrimental impacts of small size on democracy, such as lack of political diversity, high personalization, weak separation of authorities, and extensive patronage. This state-of-art, in which there is a predominant academic disagreement about the relation between size and democracy, despite many years of studying and argumentation, calls for a further study of the topic. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to delve into the abundant content on the topic, in order to produce a qualified understanding of the possible relation between population size and democracy. The methodology of this study is a theoretical analysis, based on critical literature review of the contents on the topic. These are assessed using a lengthily-delineated definition of democracy, conceptualizing it as a system yet to be realized in our time, in which all people hold an adequate and equal capacity to make choices in governance. Using this definition, it is concluded that population size is strongly related to the potential realization of democracy, due to its cultivating effect on the various democratic capacities, and thus democracy may only be realized in a political unit of small population size. These conclusions are illustrated through a short case study of the political processes in Iceland since the financial crisis of 2008.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2