Schmitter and Karl (1991) listed Robert Dahl's seven minimum criteria for a political democracy and developed two of their own (p. 247). Most of the nine criteria, if not all, are irrelevant in my assigned countries, since both my assigned countries are non-democratic. Criteria one gives elected officials constitutional power to make policy. Under this criteria, Yemen and Saudi both differ. Saudi Arabia has a Shura council, which is an advisory body, but they do not enact and enforce laws, only the King can. In Yemen, there are elected officials and a parliament; however, the power they have is also limited. The second criteria guarantees fair elections with no coercion. In both countries, one cannot safely say that elections are …show more content…
Criteria seven is difficult to analyze, this criteria is the right of citizens to form and be part of groups or assemblies, and to organize and be part of organizations. Both countries claim that they have a pluralistic political system, and that many parties are allowed to organize and be part of the political system. However, many reports show that this might not necessarily be true. Saudi Arabia and Yemen are very influenced by Islamic law; thus, liberal or secular political parties are naturally suppressed. However, when it comes to the private business sector, Saudi Arabia seems to be more flexible. The country has private schools, private hospitals, and private pharmacies. For example, the Saudi German hospital in Jeddah, which is one of the best private hospitals not just in the country by also in the region (International Hospitals Construction Co. Ltd. [IHCC], n.d.). Moreover, Saudi Arabia has multiple private schools, such as the American International School in the capital Riyadh (U.S. Department of State, n.d.). These organizations are allowed to function with considerable flexibility within the country. Yemen also has a developing private sector. Recently a group of NGO's as well as government representatives organized a meeting in Saudi to discuss the private sector as well the humanitarian situation in
I believe that there were elements of a democracy that were missing from Diamond and Morlino’s list. First and foremost, I believe that in a democracy, citizens/ outsiders should not be able to bribe government officials during elections and when in office. The New York Times claimed that 125 families had enough purchasing power over the White House as half of the American households (~120 million). In order for a democracy to be fair, a small portion of the population should not be able to have that much control over the country. Furthermore, I believe that democracies should offer a decent and fair education to all of its citizens. I believe this is important so that citizens can read and write. These basic skills are helpful during elections
In his book, Fareed Zakaria concretely explores the vicissitudes of democracy’s limitations and thus offers exemplary arguments for the need for economic liberty followed by constraints and proper measures to prevent countries from descending into chaos. There is irrefutable credibility and merit to his assertion that conducting competitively fair and open elections, while failing to ensure the guarantee of liberties that are essential for the nation to flourish and prosper— is insufficient for a nation to be called democratic. In today’s world, what Zakaria considers “the democratic age,” most of American foreign policy visa-vie actors around the world is based on the premise that we are willing to prop, negotiate, and support nations
According to the Struggle for Democracy you need to exhibit all three guidelines of democracy, (popular sovereignty, political equality, and political liberty), to become democratic. It states that in popular sovereignty the supreme source of government authority and policies they make are the people, and that political equality is the concept that every person has equal weight in the management of public business. It also specifies that political liberty is the right of the people to practice the range of basic freedom, for instants the freedom of speech, association, and conscience, without the governments meddling.
Larry Diamond's presentation explores the question of why there are no Arab democracies in the Middle East and North Africa. He shows us the relatively stagnant levels of democratic freedoms that have been the norm in the region for the past several decades. Diamond gives us a multitude of potential explanations for the absence of a sustainable democracy.
We live in a society where African Americans used to be treated with no respect. What if you had to experience the same things that they dealt with? They faced racial discrimination and injustice in court. Mostly in the Jim Crow South, certain groups of white people during this time made it impossible for African Americans to receive justice. Even if they were innocent, blacks could be brutally punished and were subjugated by violence. In court whites would generally win even if they did not have any strong evidence to support their arguments. Especially in the south, during the 1930s, African Americans had little value and basically no legal status in society. They were meant to be treated like animals and, generally, many people believed that whites were always superior to blacks.
Government officials must be elected by the people and all adult members must be treated as equals who have the ability to form, signify, and have preferences their weighted equally. During elections the government will not be able to restrict participation nor suborn the process during voting. Votes in Country X must be weighed equally and everyone must have the same number of votes. Country X must also consist of civil liberties that include the certainty that the government cannot prohibit one from complaining about the government itself, which will also constitute for the right to Freedom of Speech in the country. In conclusion, Country X must be a political regime in which the rulers are accountable to the ruled and this accountability is formed through institutionalized participation and
What is democracy? Political scientists argue that there are three major tenets of a democratic government: popular sovereignty, equality, and liberty. Popular Sovereignty uses direct democracy; power of the people; self-determination; autonomy. Equality: values the contributions of women just as those of men; Equal
Democracy, while imperfect, is the system of ruling prevalent in vast tracks of the world. Despite this, democracy is not a uniform system with every country practicing its democracy in slightly unique ways.
Prejudice is a hostile or negative attitude toward people who are in a distinguishable group that is based solely on their membership within that group. It has three components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral. The cognitive component of prejudice consist of stereotypes, generalizations about a group where characteristics are believed to be shared by all in the group. Examples of this would be believing that all Muslims are terrorists, all Asians must be smart, and all Americans are lazy. While stereotypes are used to save time and energy, they are sometimes wrong for the group and often wrong for individuals. The affective component involve the emotional/judgmental aspect of prejudice. It is based only on group membership and is typically negative. It is exhibited in fear, envy, pity, or disgust. The behavioral component consists of discrimination, which is when people are treated differently only because of their social group.
Democracy has become the most widespread political form of government during the past decade, after the fall of all its alternatives. During the second part of the 20th century, the 3 main enemies of democracy, namely communism, fascism and Nazism, lost most of their power and influence. However, democracy is still only to be found in less than half of this world's countries. China with a fifth of the total population "had never experienced a democratic government" and Russia still doesn't have a well established democracy. By adopting a democratic perspective, 3 types of governments emerge, non-democratic, new democracies, and old democracies, and all have a different challenge to overcome: either to become democratic, to "consolidate"
In our textbook, Charles Hauss states that democracy has five key components to democracy: basic freedoms, the Rule of Law, competitive, fair, and free elections, a strong civil society and civic culture, and finally, capitalism and affluence. On January 10, 2017, Obama delivered his farewell speech citing various examples of how the five concepts Hauss stated are integrated into American democracy.
Seeing how democracy is not an ‘’anything goes’’ form of government, there are many different elements that are necessary in order for democracy to succeed. Three elements we have discovered to be necessary are the separation and balance of powers also known as checks and balances, the rule of law, and the respect for political rights. Although they are not the only elements that come in to play when it comes to democracy, they are all three extremely important.
The author has been able to fulfill the target of the book, which is to test and answer the questions raised by critics through the provision of evidence of the reason no democracy exists at the present. The author presents the arguments in a chronological way that gives a better understanding of the past, today, and prospective future of democracy. The root of the present democracy is stated in the book and lays the basis of the other arguments in the book. Dahl argues that there are conditions that any state should attain in order for it to be considered as a democratic
Today, more than 20 states are currently approving the use of Medical Marijuana. Gathering statistical data from Gallup Politics in 2013, 58% of Americans say the drug Marijuana should be legalized, for the first time ever recorded. Gallup had first asked the question of legalization in 1969, when only 12% favored legalization. Had I been included in the study, I likely would have been for the legalization. Medical Marijuana had been used for centuries prior to it becoming illegal, and it is important to know what decided the illegalization of medical marijuana, whether there is currently a benefit of treatment with medical marijuana, and the regulation of Marijuana.
Democracy varies in every country depending on the type of government or regime they have. There is the liberal democracy, which is all about giving people their rights and liberties; everything is done through fair voting and electing. The people are aware of everything that happens in their government. Illiberal democracies are basically the same as liberal, but the people in power are more secretive of their activities, and there is less civil liberty. It is essentially a partial democracy. Now Authoritarian regimes designate any political system that concentrates power in the hands of one leader or a small elite. There are no free elections and very little regard for the law. Political institutions, social structures, and the democratic rule of law all affect liberal, illiberal, and authoritarian regimes democratic quality differently.