O presente artigo tem por objetivo examinar se – como aponta parte da literatura - há alguma similaridade entre situação econômica e valores democráticos, isto é, se a variação ou estabilização se manifestam da mesma maneira nas duas dimensões. A importância deste trabalho reside no fato de que durante a segunda metade do século XX aconteceram a segunda e terceira ondas democráticas, fazendo com que o número de regimes que se definem como democracias aumentasse significativamente: nesse sentido, no final deste mesmo século e início do século seguinte, muitos países sofreram o impacto de crises econômicas e de queda da satisfação com os regimes democráticos e da confiança em suas instituições. Desse modo, para observar de que maneira a opinião pública se comporta diante das flutuações de índices econômicos, são verificados os casos do Brasil, Uruguai, Espanha e Finlândia, propondo-se uma análise de dados econômicos do Banco Mundial – no que diz respeito ao desemprego, inflação, PIB per capita, PIB crescimento anual, Índice de GINI - e do PNUD - sobreÍndice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) - em comparação com indicadores de atitudes democráticas, como satisfação e confiança nas instituições públicas, do Latino e Eurobarômetro nos últimos vinte anos, para tentar descobrir se há, de fato, similaridade de comportamento entre as duas dimensões nestes países. / This article aims to examine whether - as points of the literature - there is a relationship between economic status and democratic values, in other words, if the variation or stabilization manifest the same way in two dimensions. The importance of this work lies in the fact that during the second half of the twentieth century happened the second and third democratic wave, causing the number of schemes that call themselves democracies increased significantly: in this sense, at the end of this same century and beginning of the next century, many countries suffered the impact of economic crises and loss of satisfaction with democratic regimes and trust in their institutions. Thus, to observe how the public opinion behaves in the face of economic indices fluctuations, are verified the cases of Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and Finland, proposing a World Bank economic data analysis - with regard to unemployment, inflation, GDP per capita, GDP annual growth, GINI index and of the UNDP data about Human Development Index (HDI) - compared with democratic attitudes indicators such as satisfaction and trust in public institutions, of Latinobarómetro and Eurobarometer in the last twenty years to find out if there is, indeed, the relationship between the two dimensions in these countries.

Why do some (non)violent civil resistances in nondemocracies achieve democracy while others do not? In order to answer this question, this project examined factors that result in different outcomes and the mechanisms critical to democratization. In particular, I paid close attention to whether autocracies failing after successful (non)violent civil resistance adopted transitional justice (TJ) mechanisms such as trials, truth commissions, and amnesty, and how civil society worked in each course of democratization. I explored the conditions of democratic consolidation (e.g., economic development, democratic neighbors, and political institution) and among them, focused on the civil culture that led citizens to participate positively and actively in politics with belief and trust. I found that in the course of democratization, implementing TJ policies is necessary in order to build inter-group trust and encourage citizens to participate critically in political reform. Because TJ mechanisms are designed to make past wrongdoers accountable and reconcile conflicting sides, these approaches can strengthen civic culture and promote reconciliation by restoring the rule of law and rebuilding victims’ dignity. In addition, I argued that a robust civil society (CS) plays a vital role in sustaining democracy, not only by encouraging TJ adoption, but also by playing roles such as supporter, mobilizer, enforcer, monitor, and so on. In this context, I suggested that (non)violent civil resistance can contribute to building a robust CS. Particularly, nonviolent and large resistance with diverse participants can increase the capacity, legitimacy, and representativeness of a CS so that it can play its role(s) properly. Statistical analysis with large-n data supported these arguments. Despite the controversy in the literature, adoption of TJ policies turned out to be a positively significant factor for achieving democratic consolidation; and, the robustness of CS, which can be developed through (non)violent civil resistance, was significant as well, particularly at the early phase of the democratization process. The application to the 2011 Arab Uprising cases (Tunisia and Egypt) that focused on TJ adoption and the role of CS revealed consistent conclusions as well. Although there are several limitations to this study, I attempted to reveal the importance of the linkages among steps to democratization and increase understanding of the “process” rather than simply the “cause” or “result.” In addition, the findings can be implemented in policies for proliferating democracy by supporting/encouraging democratization from the ground up (i.e., below), CS growth, and TJ adoption after transition.

The aim of this study is to analyse the state of Indonesia’s democracy 23 years after the fall of Suharto. By applying a qualitative case study, that uses Linz and Stepans maximal definition of democratic consolidation as the theoretical framework, an analytical scheme is operationalized and developed to answer the research questions. The empirical material is then analysed based on that analytical scheme.   The study shows that Indonesia’s democracy is experiencing challenges in all arenas, except for perhaps the political society, as Indonesia holds regular elections that are considered free and fair. The results, thus, indicate that the democracy in Indonesia cannot be considered consolidated.    These results contribute to contemporary research by strengthening the theory that democracy encompasses more than just elections, as well as the use of a theoretical framework to identify weaknesses in a democracy. This is in turn of both interdisciplinary and practical value, for instance within international development cooperation.   Keywords: Democracy, democratic consolidation, Linz and Stepan, Indonesia

The purpose of this essay is to investigate the democratic consolidation of Honduras, a country in Latin America. The aim is to look into the democratic consolidation after the military coup in 2009. The method that was applied to this essay was a case study, where the data is qualitative as the essay goes in to depth of Honduras situation. The main theory used to analyze the empirical data is Linz and Stepan’s five arenas; civil society, political society, rule of law, bureaucratic structure, and economic society. The basic stages of democracy and democratic consilidation are also used to get a broader perspective of the phenomenon.  The result of this essay shows the basis of Honduras democratic consilidation from 2009 and forward. In terms of the arenas this essay shows that none of the arenas prerequisite are meet. As a sign of the weak democracy in Honduras the essay identifies that the problems, which they had before the military coup, are still present.

This essay aims to examine and analyze how the political situation in Thailand looks like and what conditions Thailand has to become a consolidated democracy. This is achieved via a theoretical case study where Linz and Stepans five arenas of consolidated democracy is the center. This theory has been applied to the current political situation in Thailand to get to a conclusion on what the democratic situation actually looks like. In the end this essay comes to the conclusion that the democratic future of Thailand looks really dark and that the conditions for a possible consolidated democracy in the near future are really bad. The main reason for this dark democratic future is the current government and there unwillingnes to adept to a democratic system.

This study deals with the issue of democratization in Latin America during the 20th century, and in particular the role of the left in this process. The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the role of the left as a political actor in the process of democratization toward the deepening of the democratic rule in Latin America. The research questions are: what role did the left have in the transitions to electoral democracies during the 20th century in Latin America? Why did the left have the role it had in the transitions? How does the left’s view of democracy affect the transition to electoral democracy, and the further democratization to deepen democratic rule? What structural constraints affect the left’s ability to deepen democratic rule? A comparative qualitative method and different theoretical concepts of democracy, democratization, elite perspective, mobilization and organizations have been used, and examples from different Latin American cases are given. One empirical conclusion is that the role of the left in the transitions to electoral democracies varies from participation with active left leaders, collective left actions, to not have any significant role at all. A second empirical conclusion is that in cases where left wing governments have tried to enforce a model of participatory democracy, the result has been “ coup d’état” or rebellions conducted by military forces and supported by the economic elite and the United States of America. In other cases when left parties in government instead have remained within the framework of an elite democracy, the result has rather been stabilization of the liberal democratic rule. The main theoretical conclusions are as follows: the theoretical discussion about democratic consolidation and the deepening of democracy have to consider that different actors’ (in this study the left) preferences for various models of democracy differ; the actors’ view of democracy matter in the game of democratic development and democratic consolidation; and the relations between the elite actors’ preferences for different models of democracy determine the outcome of a specific form of democratic model (in this study electoral democracy, liberal democracy or participatory democracy).

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the democratization process in Kurdistan on the basis of consolidation democracy with focus on arenas defined by Linz and Stepan (1997), namely economic, political, legal, civil society and arenas of state bureaucracy. Furthermore, I intend to explain Kurdistan’s road toward democratization in Kurdistan from 1991 until today, with a focus on the years 2003-2012. The main results are that Kurdistan has developed conditions that support a future consolidation of democracy. However, there are weaknesses in the economic situation, rule of law and the arena of bureaucracy. The arena of the political and civil society grew stronger after the US war on Iraq in 2003 and as effect new institutions such as political parties, opposition, election, political governance and alliances arose.

In recent years Mexico has been confronted with accelerating levels of violence related to drug trafficking organizations and counter-drug efforts. This paper examines the consequences of Mexico’s current drug trafficking situation on the country’s fledging democracy. In particular, the impact of the drug war on Mexico’s democratic consolidation is evaluated through civil-military relations, the judicial system, and the press. Conclusions about the prospects for Mexico’s nascent democracy are then examined.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the last phrase of democratization process in Georgia that refers to democratic consolidation period, while focusing on the role of civil society organizations. The main focus area will be post-Rose Revolution period hence, the Rose Revolution that occurred in 2003 is considered as an example of democratic transition and as a nature of successful democratization development, the transition period must be followed by the democratic consolidation process. In order to examine the consolidation of democracy in Georgia, the study sheds light on the development of civil society, the aims of activities of civil societal actors and their relations with state, society, international actors and media. This thesis argues that in order to consolidate democracy, the civil society&rsquo / s interaction with state and society must be effectual however, the Georgian civil society organizations are unable to mediate the relations with state and society, especially after the Rose Revolution. As a result of the problematic relations, Georgian democratic consolidation process is failing. This thesis is based on the qualitative data which is collected during a fieldwork in Georgia.

In the last fifteen years, conflict resolution, a collaborative, problem-solving approach to social conflicts, was introduced to new democracies in an attempt to develop civil society's capacity for conflict management (Mayer, 2000). Conflict resolution provides people with an opportunity to advocate effectively for their own interests in a non-violent, constructive manner through systematic educational efforts, skills trainings, dialogue initiatives, and mediation practices (Mayer, 2000). It empowers people to address, manage, and transform difficulties and antagonism into a source of positive social change and, thus, change people's negative psychological responses to conflicts (Bush & Folger, 1994). In this view, conflict resolution in new democracies' civil society provides citizens as well NGO practitioners with the skills and opportunities to practice how to express and resolve differences in a safe and constructive environment (Shonholtz, 1997). In an effort to provide additional information about civil society's conflict resolution practices and their affect in new democracies, this dissertation examines the existing efforts of South Korean civil society organisations to promote conflict resolution methodologies. Specifically, three organisations are examined to understand better South Korean civil society's response to PCR issues. Furthermore, by closely examining these three civil society organisations, this dissertation aims to explore what affect increased awareness and engagement in conflict resolution methodologies have on the democratic quality of civil society.