Abstract
Previous studies about democracies on a global level have assumed that democratisation occurs when an autocratic regime moves toward becoming a democratic regime. This article recognises an alternative mode to democratic transition: democratisation by state-formation, which occurs when democratic regimes are established in new states as an outcome of state-formation. The article describes how cases of democratisation can be classified according the two modes of democratisation. Furthermore, the classification is applied in illustrative analyses of democratisation on the global level during 1800–2007. The analyses describe how transition and state-formation have affected the global number of democracies. These analyses indicate that both modes of democratisation have empirical relevance and that the classification provides a more complete description of the global development of democracies than previous studies. The main conclusion of this article is therefore a proposal for future studies to include both modes to understand and explain democratisation on the global level.
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Notes
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Although the model of waves and reverse waves has been prominent within the research of democratisation, some critics have questioned the assumptions and results that Huntington presents. The criticisms have concerned conceptual issues, methodological aspects, and the identification of waves and reverse waves (Bunce 2000; Doorenspleet 2000, 2005; McFaul 2002; Møller and Skanning 2012).
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In accordance with the concept of polyarchy (Dahl 1971), we use the term “democratic regime” to refer to high levels of political inclusion and political competition in political systems. An autocratic regime lacks one or both of these qualities.
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Although democratic institutions in new states may have pre-independence origins or imitate institutions in host-states, political regimes cannot be established before the time of independence. First, pre-independence institutions lack sovereignty and full-authority as the host-state controls or dominates over them. A democratic regime, as all political regimes, is independent from other political regimes (Dahl 1989; Easton 1965). Second, the set of political institutions are uncompleted before independence. For example, political institutions for functions that comes with complete independence (e.g., constitutional control, foreign policy, armed forces, finance policy and monetary issues) are missing before independence (Fabry 2010; Pavković 2007; Wood 1981). Third, as Dahl (1989, 1990), Easton (1965) and Huntington (1968) explain in more detail, the domain of political regime is not established before independence as a distinct unit. For example, issues concerning citizenship in new states are not formalised before independence (Linz and Stepan 1996). In sum, pre-independent institutions constitute not a political regime and can thus not be transformed or transfer into a democratic regime at the time of independence.
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Studies have not used models of transition only to examine democratisation. Democratic breakdowns have also been regarded as the outcome of transitions (Kapstein and Converse 2008). For example, in his influential study, Linz (1978) determined how democratic regimes break down through processes that are similar to transition processes, in which actors through different phases change the political regime.
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Democratisation by state-formation should not be confused with issues about state-building. State-building refers not to the formation of a new state; it concerns the creation of new political institution or the strengthening of existing institutions within a state that are already established as an internationally recognized state. State-building is hence about the development of an existing state whereas state-formation is about the birth of a new state (Fukuyama 2004, 2014; Huntington 1968; Mazzuca and Munck 2014; Tilly 2007).
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Among the cases included in the forthcoming analyses there are some states (e.g., Grenada and Sri Lanka) that established democratic regimes at the time of independence that later were first transformed into an autocratic regime and then back into a democratic regime. There are also cases of new states that have gone through several transitions from and to democracy (e.g., Pakistan, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Suriname). These cases illustrate that both modes of democratisation may be part of the history of a country, but also that some countries that had established democratic regime at the time of independence have only experienced democratic breakdowns and not democratic transitions (e.g., Laos and Somalia).
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We are not convinced without reservation to use this indicator as a measurement of political inclusion. According to Dahl (1971, 1989, 1998), political inclusion is when adult–both male and female–citizens have the right to participate. A majority of male citizens is far too modest to meet this criterion of political inclusion.
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Dahl (1998) claims that six institutions are necessary for democratic regimes: (a) elected officials, (b) free, fair, and frequent elections, (c) freedom of expression, (d) alternative sources of information, (e) associational autonomy, and (f) inclusive citizenship.
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Cases are included in the following analyses, when (sovereign = 1 and democracy = 1). A democratic regime is classified as case of democratisation by state-formation, when (sovereign = 1, democracy = 1, democracy_trans = 0, and democracy_duration = 1). A democratic regime is classified as case of democratisation by democratic transition, when (sovereign = 1, democracy = 1, democracy_trans = 1, and democracy_duration = 1). Based on these two rules, we have manually created a variable that indicates for each country-year observation of democracy if the democratic regime was established by state-formation or democratic transition. The variable has three values: historical case of democracy = 0; democratisation by state-formation = 1; and democratisation by democratic transition = 2. According to the database, there is one case of democracy (USA) that was established before the first year covered by the database. This case is therefore classified as historical case of democracy. There are 208 country-year observations of USA (4.1 % of all country-years observations of democracies).
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Denk, T., Lehtinen, S. Two modes of democratisation: transition and state-formation. Qual Quant 50, 2331–2346 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-015-0265-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-015-0265-2