Demokratijos konsolidacija yra sudėtinė demokratizacijos proceso dalis, apibūdinanti naujai susikūrusios valstybės demokratijos būseną, išreiškiant ją per kokybės kriterijus, tokius kaip pilietinės visuomenės ar partinės sistemos būsena. Tuomet yra užduodamas klausimas - ar naujai susikūrusi demokratinė santvarka išsilaikys, ar neatlaikiusi įvairiausių spaudimų, grįš į autoritarinį režimą. Taip pat yra svarbus susikūrusios demokratijos kokybės klausimas. Aprašomuoju, lyginamuoju bei mokslinės analizės metodais buvo aprašytas demokratijos konsolidacijos teorinis aspektas bei susisteminti kriterijai, kuriais remiantis tolimesniuose skyriuose buvo atliekama kiekybinė bei kokybinė šių kriterijų analizė, paminint ir veiksnius bei prielaidas, kodėl būtent šie kriterijai buvo taikomi Lietuvos atvejui. Darbo objektas yra demokratijos konsolidacija Lietuvoje - jos istorija bei kokybės analizė. Darbo tikslui pasiekti buvo naudojami pripažintų autorių demokratizacijos kriterijai, pagal kuriuos buvo atlikta Lietuvos atvejo analizė. Darbo tikslas buvo išsiaiškinti, kokiame demokratijos konsolidacijos etape yra Lietuva ir ar šį procesą galima vadinti užbaigtu. Demokratizacijos procesas yra glaudžiai susijęs su daugeliu ekonominių, politinių bei visuomeninių sferų, tokių kai pilietinė visuomenė, ekonominė bei politinė kultūra bei domėjimasis politika apskritai. Todėl neabejotina, kad demokratijos konsolidacijos klausimas Lietuvoje yra labai svarbus. Sėkmingas demokratijos veikimas yra... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The consolidation of democracy is a term that describes the status of newly created democracies, when the mode of transition is the issue of whether the newly created democracy will sustain his democratic order or collapse after won’t sustaining it’ s challenges In this study will also been emphasized the quality of democracy. This study will describe the consolidation of democracy in new democracies, history of these countries, with emphasis on the case of Lithuania. The work will be written with all the descriptive-exploratory research work required for the criteria, using empirical studies and theoretical research. Work item is the consolidation of democracy in Lithuania and it‘s history, which is defined as the transition from authoritarian to democratic regimes. Another important element of the study is the quality of democracy in Lithuania and their parameters which is far from the level of a stable Western democracies. Democratization process is related to many social, economic and political public spheres, such as the status of civil society, economic and political culture, and interest in politics in general. Therefore, there is no doubt that the consolidation of democracy in question is relevant. The smooth functioning of the democratic values of democracy and the desire to match the quality criteria of the old countries of the European Union compels us to review the existing problems and find solutions to the challenge. Work will begin with the theoretical... [to full text]

A presente dissertação tem por objeto uma análise crítica do conceito de justiça de transição. Surgida na fronteira do direito com a ciência política, a partir da década de 90 do século XX, essa expressão tem delimitado um novo campo de reflexões e uma profícua agenda de pesquisas interdisciplinares na teoria social contemporânea. Para compreendê-la devidamente, esse trabalho faz um percurso incomum nos estudos da área. De partida, para recuperar as origens mais imediatas e pouco lembradas desse conceito, procede-se a uma revisão analítica da literatura produzida por uma geração importante de cientistas políticos durante as décadas de 80 e 90, conhecida como transitologia. Essa tradição preocupavase, essencialmente, em apreender a excepcionalidade dos momentos transicionais e em evitar, a todo custo, que se consumasse uma regressão autoritária, razão pela qual recomendavam todos os tipos de cautelas e prudências possíveis aos atores políticos. Após um exame detido desse corpo teórico, destacando suas premissas e definições, bem como limitações, discute-se o que se pode considerar, nesse quadro conceitual, como uma transição justa. Esse é o germe da ideia que, posteriormente, foi recuperada e sistematizada sob o recorte temático da justiça de transição, mas já em um contexto de globalização e internacionalização dos mecanismos de proteção aos direitos humanos. A partir dessas mudanças contextuais e conceituais, torna-se então possível descrever os traços gerais da abordagem tradicional desse fenômeno, estruturada a partir de cinco eixos consagrados nessa literatura: verdade, memória, reparação, justiça e reformas das instituições. Em seguida, são repassadas uma-a-uma as principais críticas dirigidas à definição tradicional, bem como as propostas formuladas para superar as deficiências teóricas e analíticas apontadas. Por fim, depois de examinar os estágios de uma transição e os requisitos para que se consume uma consolidação democrática, questiona-se a pertinência de utilização da expressão justiça de transição para contextos em que vigoram democracias relativamente bem consolidadas. De acordo com essa tese, estrutural para essa pesquisa, o conceito de justiça de transição, por definição, carrega uma ideia de justiça excepcional e precária, a ser modulada de acordo com as possibilidades em condições adversas, que é aplicável apenas a situações de extremo conflito ou forte instabilidade política, não verificadas nos países da América Latina e do Sul da Europa atualmente. / The purpose of this dissertation is to critically analyze of the concept of transitional justice. Emerging from the intersection between Law and Political Science, from the 1990s on, this expression has defined a new field of reflections and has become a main issue in the growing interdisciplinary research agenda in contemporary social theory. To understand this concept properly, this work takes an unusual path, when compared to the studies in this area. Firstly, to retrieve the most immediate and the least remembered origins of this concept, this dissertation comes to an analytical review of the literature of an important generation of political scientists during the 80s and 90s, known as \"transitologists\". The transitology generation was concerned, essentially, with investigating the exceptionality of moments of transition and with preventing, at all cost, an authoritarian regression, which was why they recommended much caution and prudence to all political actors. After a close examination of this theoretical framework, showing its assumptions and definitions, as well its limitations, this dissertation discusses what can be considered in this conceptual framework as a fair transition. This is the embrionary idea of that was later recovered and systematized under the main theme of transitional justice, but already in a context of globalization and internationalization of the Human Rights protection mechanisms. From these contextual and conceptual changes, it has thus become possible to describe the general features of the traditional approach to this phenomenon, structured by five areas: Truth, Memory, Repair, Justice and Reform of the Institutions. The established definition is revised with the support of a critical analysis, as well as the proposals to overcome the theoretical and analytical deficiencies were pointed out. Finally, after examining the stages of a transition and the requirements for the consummation of democratic consolidation, the appropriateness of the use of the term transitional justice for contexts of relatively wellestablished democracies is discussed. According to a theory, which is essential to this research, the concept of transitional justice, by definition, carries an idea of exceptional and precarious justice to be modulated according to the possibilities of adverse conditions, which applies only to situations of extreme conflict or political instability, something that currently cannot be observed in the contexts of Latin America and Southern Europe.

After 1989 a lot of non-democratic regimes crumbled in Central and Eastern Europe. These regimes had started their way towards democracy and its consolidation. This way differed case by case but some aspects that affected them were common. One of the most important aspects is European Union, a strong international actor and a possibility for future development for these countries. This paper tries to examine the influence of possible future accession of Romania into the EU on its democratic consolidation. It is mainly focused on issues of national minorities and their protection and on extreme nationalist political parties and their position within Romanian society. Additional topics are democratic consolidation in broader sense and Europeanization. The conclusion shows that Romanian democracy in studied fields has become more consolidated and the influence of the EU o this change can be traced.

This thesis addresses the level of democratic consolidation in South Africa. The study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the current political situation and the general state of democracy. As a method, a single case study was used where the political situation in post-apartheid South Africa was applied upon the concept of democratic consolidation by using five distinctive consolidation arenas: civil society, political society, judiciary, bureaucratic society and economic society. The results of the analysis show a variance in the degree of democratic consolidation in the country. The judiciary is very much well-functioning and independent and can therefore be classified as consolidated. The civil society and some elements of the political society are mostly functioning and can be classified as mostly consolidated with some reservations, while the bureaucratic and economic societies are deemed to be not consolidated. However, South Africa also possesses several obstacles for genuine consolidation that applies to all arenas, namely high degrees of violence, low social trust, and institutional weakness. The democratic system in South Africa is not currently considered to be under serious existential threat and has proven itself capable of withstanding high degrees of pressure. Nevertheless, it is found to be suffering from a type of democratic fatigue and transformation stagnation, which could have the potential to result in more serious implications in the future. South Africa can therefore be classified as a partly consolidated democracy.

The master thesis "Latvia's transition to democracy and the challenges of democratic consolidation in Latvia" deals with the analysis of Latvian transition to democracy and the processes of democratic consolidation after regaining the independence in Latvia. The thesis focuses on the development of transformation processes in the late nineteen eighties and at the beginning of the nineteen nineties in this Baltic republic as well as it analyses the most significant problematic aspects of the development of Latvian democracy after regaining the independence till now.

Abstract The central argument in this MA research report is that arguing for a compromised or depleted political culture or space is extremely difficult if we consider the complexity of the public sphere. This involves firstly arguing that by re-interrogating the concept of the public sphere underpinning orthodox critical perspectives on democratic functioning from deliberative democratic theorists, we find notions of the critical public sphere have been corrupted by the idealism that accompanies this nonetheless important concept. By illuminating this flaw in the orthodox critical democratic perspective and applying it to critiques of South African democracy, I argue that critiquing South African politics and policy making should in general be done with more care, since what is under-contemplated in these critiques by way of the actual nature of the public sphere, is not negligible. Critics, who often start by characterising the political space as dominated by one party which allegedly renders the political space unfit for its critical purpose, ought to be fairer in their accounts. The end result of this increasingly consensual critical position is that we inhabit only a relatively meaningless formal democracy. The exploratory case study of the Human Sciences Research Council which I go on to consider was chosen on the basis of the considered guess that it was likely to throw up evidence of interesting illustrative tendencies in what I argue may constitute a ‘new’ public sphere. The theoretical possibilities I aim to highlight are arguably deserving of more focused appraisal in themselves, but the aim of this dissertation is to introduce the theoretical possibility of an under-theorised public sphere through highlighting how that situation came about, and less so, what would constitute evidence of the nascent theory’s correctness.

當代世界面臨最深遠、也最鼓舞人心的影響之一便是民主化浪潮；探究民主化問題亦是政治學中的一個熱門研究領域。根據美國紐約「自由之家」（ Freedom House ）的統計調查（ 2002 ~ 2003年 ），全球「選舉的民主」（ electoral democracy ）國家總共有121個，「自由的民主」（liberal democracy ）國家計有89個。這樣的數字相較於2000 ~ 2001年與2001 ~2002年的統計──「選舉的民主」120、121個、「自由的民主」85、86個，我們發現：雖然「選舉的民主」國家幾乎維持不變，「自由的民主」國家略幅提升，但是「第三波」民主化的潮流似乎已經接近尾聲。由此可知，新興民主國家當前最重要的課題乃是如何鞏固、深化並提升民主的品質。 二十世紀末最後十年乃是台灣蛻變成長的時代，從國會全面改選到總統直接民選，不但奠定民主政治的形式，更發動了民主轉型肇始的列車。二十一世紀來臨的前夕，台灣首次完成政黨輪替的政權和平移轉，不但樹立民主轉型的典範，更締造了民主政權變遷的新頁。為了保證台灣民主化成果能夠順利地運作生存，尚須徹底通過「雙翻轉測驗」（ two- turnover test ）的試鍊，並推展更重要的民主鞏固與深化，以期待開創出更高品質與先進的民主內涵。 故本論文旨在以台灣民主化個案經驗為基礎，透過民主化理論、民主轉型模式、民主鞏固概念的檢視、適用與反思，做一個深度的分析與探討，以期對於台灣民主鞏固相關的研究和未來民主深化的發展能有所助益與啟發。 / One of the most far-reaching and inspiring influences in today's world is the wave of Democratization. Exploring Democratization and solving the problems often resulting from it are also popular issues in academia. According to the statistics of Freedom House: the number of “electoral democracy” nations is 121; “liberal democracy ”nations is 89, compared to the previous data, nevertheless, the number of “electoral democracy ”nations did not change; the number of “liberal democracy” nations is increasing slightly. In short, the “ The Third Wave ” is coming to an end, and the most important challenge ahead is consolidating the achievements of Democratization. The last 10 years of the 20th century have been an age of growth and transformation in Taiwanese politics. Regular Parliamentary elections and the direct election of the President have each been accomplished, thereby laying the basis of Democratic Politics, while also initiating a series of important Democratic Transitions. At the beginning of the 21st century, therefore, Taiwan's accomplishment of the first peaceful ruling power rotation has not only given momentum to the process of Democratic Transition but also heralds a new era in Taiwanese political power. Now, provided that Taiwan can pass the two-turnover test thoroughly, while also developing and deepening its Democratic Consolidation, the results achieved by Taiwan’s Democratic Transition will be ensured. The main purpose of this article is to analyze and explore Taiwan’s Democratization closely based on the case-study of Taiwan’s democratization and utilizing those theories concerning Democratization, models of democratic transition and reviewing, applying and reflecting concepts of democratic consolidation in the hope of making contributions to the further relevant studies of Taiwan's Democratic Consolidation and future Deepening Democracy.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / Civil Military Operations (CMO) has often been blamed for the politicization of the armed forces and a loss of civilian control. This thesis confronts this traditional approach and argues that CMO need not lead to these outcomes. It introduces democratic civilian control of the armed forces, a well-established military mission, and civilian and military expertise as the basic requirements for the application of CMO. If the requirements are fulfilled, a multiplier effects starts giving legitimacy to the government, consolidating the democratic process and increasing civilian control over the armed forces. This thesis examines Ecuador as a case study. Ecuador fulfills partially the requirements for the application of CMO. The State's structure allows democratic civilian control. There is a well-established mission: the north frontier of Ecuador has become a "gap" in the national security system that demands the assistance of the armed forces. But there is lack of civilian and military expertise in the application of CMO. The demand of CMO in the north frontier can be the perfect scenario for training and education in Civil Military Affairs, fulfilling the requirement of expertise and thus allowing the application of CMO in Ecuador without risking the democratic regime. / Civilian, National Congress, Ecuador

As organizações regionais (ORs) latino-americanas têm atuado de maneira formal em segurança cidadã há pelo menos 20 anos. Em diferentes tratados, declarações, planos de ação, projetos, atas, entre outros documentos das organizações regionais, seja na América do Sul seja na América Central, evidencia-se que há uma relação importante entre segurança cidadã e consolidação democrática. Tendo em vista isto, esta tese tem como objetivo responder as seguintes perguntas de pesquisa: Qual é a visão das Organizações Regionais acerca da relação entre consolidação de democracia e segurança cidadã na região latino-americana? E, qual tem sido o papel das ORs, com algum nível institucional formalizado de cooperação em segurança cidadã, na consolidação democrática na América Latina? É uma pesquisa de viés qualitativo baseada em dois estudos de caso: o Sistema de Integração Centro-Americano (SICA) e a União das Nações Sul-Americanas (UNASUL) entre os anos de 2008-2018, período no qual ambas as ORs tiveram ações focadas (projetos e planos de ação) em segurança cidadã. A metodologia utilizada será de process tracing, como também de comparative process tracing entre as ORs. Os resultados desta tese apontam que ambas as organizações regionais possuem a visão de que ações em cooperação em segurança cidadã podem promover consolidação democrática através do fortalecimento do Estado de direito. Contudo, os atores são céticos sobre as capacidades de suas ORs em terem êxito, uma vez que o papel delas em consolidação democrática, através de cooperação em segurança cidadã, é pontual ou inexistente, sobretudo, pela falta de efetividade das mesmas. A conclusão é que as ORs analisadas produzem muito em termos de documentos, mas fazem pouco em termos de prática para concretizar suas ambições, refletindo as falhas do próprio regionalismo latino-americano. Assim, a falta de vontade política, a falta de capacidade institucional e o déficit recursos (humanos e financeiros) são as grandes barreiras para se ter êxito nas ações de segurança cidadã e, consequentemente, efeitos em fortalecimento do Estado de direito na região. / The Latin American regional organizations (ROs) have been working in a formal manner in citizen security at least for the last 20 years. In different treaties, declarations, action plans, projects, minutes and other documents of the regional organizations, whether in South America whether Central America, it is evident there is an important relation between citizen security and democratic consolidation. In this way, this work aims to answer the followings research questions: What is the vision of the Regional Organizations about the relationship between democratic consolidation and citizen security in Latin America? In addition, what has been the role of the ROs, with some formalized level of cooperation in citizen security, in Latin American democratic consolidation? It is a qualitative bias research based on two case studies: The Central American Integration System and the Union of the South American Nations between the years of 2008-2018, during which time both regional organizations had actions (projects and action plans) focused in citizen security. The methodology utilized will be the process tracing, as well as the comparative process tracing between the ROs. The results show that both organizations have the vision that the actions in citizen security can promote democratic consolidation through the strengthening of the rule of law. However, the actors are skeptical about their ROs\' ability to succeed, since their role in democratic consolidation, through cooperation in citizen security, is punctual or non-existent, mainly because of their lack of effectiveness. The conclusion is that the ROs analyzed produce a lot in terms of documents, but they do little in terms of practice to achieve their ambitions, reflecting the failures of Latin American regionalism itself. Therefore, the lack of political will, the lack of institutional capacity and the deficit in resources (human and financial) are the great barriers to success in citizen security actions and, consequently, effects on strengthening of the rules of law in the region.

Is support for democracy decreasing among the young? Attitudes among the young tell us about the future of democracy. Today, support is declining in the USA and researchers disagree about whether the same is true for Western Europe. Some researchers believe that there is cause for concern while others argue that the young generation is more tolerant and have higher aspirations for democracy, which means that we do not need to worry. According to the theory of generational replacement and its scarcity and socialization hypotheses, diffuse support for democracy as well as tolerance should be stable or even increasing in the young cohorts. Using a quantitative method and data from the European Values Study, these parameters along with specific support will be measured in the countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, which are most-likely cases to have strong support for democracy among citizens. The main findings are that diffuse support seems to be stable in the young cohort in all countries except Denmark, where there is a slight decline. Specific support fluctuates over time and tolerance is highest among the young cohort but declining over time in the older cohorts in Denmark and Norway. The results predict that support for democracy will remain although there are some signs of challenges ahead.