Kai po trečiosios demokratizacijos bangos pagausėjo demokratinę santvarką pasirinkusių valstybių, prasidėjo demokratizacijos procesas. Demokratijos konsolidacija yra demokratizacijos proceso rezultatas, kuris parodo šalies demokratijos būseną. Ji išreiškiama pagal demokratijos kokybės kriterijus, kurie šiame darbe yra politinė kultūra, ekonominė ir socialinė padėtis bei žmonių teisės ir laisvės. Lietuva ir Estija yra vienos iš tų daugelio valstybių, kurios pasirinko demokratinę valdymo sistemą. Vis dėl to šiuo metu pastebimi esminiai šių valstybių demokratijos kokybės skirtumai, kurie atskleidžia pagrindinę darbo problemą. Problemos analizė yra šio darbo tikslas, kuris pasiekiamas, apibrėžiant demokratijos sąvoką ir jos egzistavimo sąlygas, analizuojant Lietuvos ir Estijos politinę kultūrą, ekonominę ir socialinę padėtį bei gyventojų teisių ir laisvių užtikrinimą. Taigi darbo objektas – tai Lietuvos ir Estijos demokratijos konsolidacija. Įgyvendinant uždavinius, pasitelkiami aprašomasis ir palyginamais metodai. Šie metodai padeda analizuoti valstybių demokratijos kokybės skirtumus ir nurodyti svarbiausias jų priežastis. Atlikus analizę paaiškėjo, kad Estija nuo nepriklausomybės atgavimo pasižymėjo geresne ekonomine ir socialine padėtimi. Tam įtakos galėjo turėti palanki geografinė padėtis, atviresnė nei Lietuvos rinkos ekonomika bei paveldėta vokiečių kultūra. Darbas atskleidė, kad kada keičiasi valstybių ekonominė situacija, tuo pat metu kinta politinės kultūros būklė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The democratization process started in post-communits countries after the third wave of democratization. Democratic consolidation is the result of the democratic process that reflects the country‘s democratic status. It is expressed through the quality criteria of democracy. Political culture, economic and social situation and human rigths and freedoms are very important criteria which are used in order to explain the democracy’s consolidation in Lithuania and Estonia. Those countries chose the democratic regime. However, it is noticed that there are differences between Lithuanian and Estonian democracy’s consolidation. This is the main problem of this work. The problem’s analysis is the aim of the research that is achieved by defining the concept of democracy and its conditions, making an analysis of Lithuanian and Estonian political culture, economic and social situation and the human rights and freedoms. So, the paper’s object – is the consolidation of democracy in Lithuania and Estonia. The research uses descriptive and comparative methods that help to analyze the main differences and their reasons. The analysis has shown that Estonia has better economic and social situation than Lithuania since the becoming independent states. It could be influenced by advantageous geographical position, open market economy and German culture. The research has shown that when the economic situation is changing, the political culture is also changing at the same time. The comparison of... [to full text]

This dissertation seeks to contribute to the understanding of democratic "quality"---with particular reference to "Third Wave" democracies---by suggesting an evaluative and methodological tool: an examination of "stakeholder" institutions, which are understood to be institutionalized mechanisms for meaningful political participation. Beginning with the notion that political institutions make a difference in how politics is conducted, the thesis argues that "second tier" stakeholdership institutions---that is, institutions beyond voting and political party rules, such as public hearings, the formal inclusion of encompassing organizations in government decision-making, or public interest law---are extremely important in the deepening of democracy and the attainment of high-quality democracy. The thesis then uses stakeholdership as a foundation to build four models of democracy (hyper-presidential, "cupular", neo-corporatist, and pluralist) each of which vary in terms of stakeholdership and, therefore, in terms of democratic quality. After exploring these themes in the first three chapters, the thesis examines the case of post-authoritarian Chile. By looking at tax reform and judicial reform in Chile since 1990, the thesis analyses political bargaining, modes of inclusion and political institutions to determine the quality of Chilean democracy. The thesis concludes that of the four models articulated earlier, "cupular" democracy best captures the reality of Chile since 1990. Since cupular democracy has very low levels of stakeholdership, the thesis suggests that this is worrisome and makes some tentative recommendations for democratizers, both in Chile and in other relevant contexts.

Posocialistinių valstybių demokratizacija ir europeizacija gali būti traktuojami kaip ilgalaikiai ir daugialypiai procesai. Ypač todėl, kad fragmentuota ir subordinacinio pobūdžio valstybingumo vystymosi dinamika pokomunistinėse valstybėse sąlygojo žymiai platesnės apimties transformacijos procesus negu, kad tikėjosi klasikinės tranzitologijos atstovai. Todėl susiklosčiusi situacija verčia atidžiau pažvelgti į pokomunistinės valstybės specifiką. Tinkamu analizės objektu galima laikyti Moldovos demokratizacijos ir europeizacijos atvejį. Visų pirma, trapus Moldovos valstybės pagrindas, iš to kylantis skirtingas istorinių-kultūrinių artefaktų vertinimas, susiskaldžiusi pozicija valstybingumo sampratos ir raidos trajektorijų atžvilgiu lemia nevienalytį požiūrį ne tik į tautinę tapatybę, bet ir apskritai sunkina valstybės demokratizacijos ir europeizacijos procesus. Visų antra, Moldovai būdingos ne tik silpnos valstybingumo tradicijos, bet ir politinis ir normatyvinis ankstesnių režimų paveldas, todėl šioje valstybėje ryški demokratinių vertybių įsisąmoninimo problema, lemianti plataus masto korupciją ir sovietinio pobūdžio metodų bei praktikų gyvybingumą įvairiuose valstybės segmentuose. Būtent sovietinės sistemos palikimas – politiškai pasyvi ir abejinga visuomenė, autoritarinio valdymo siekimas, prisidengiant formaliais demokratiniais mechanizmais, silpna ir demokratinių vertybių stokojanti politinė kultūra, trikdo valstybės demokratizaciją kaip ir proeuropietiškas ambicijas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Democratisation and Europeanisation of Post-socialist states can be regarded as long-lasting and complex processes. Mainly because of fragmented development of statehood and subordination to external states with distinct nature, post-communist states face transformations which are marked with much wider capacity than classical transitologists expected them to be. According to the emerged situation, it enforces to take more accurate glance at the very specific nature of the post-communist state. The case of Moldova democratisation and europeanization perfectly suits these analytical aspirations. First of all, very weak background of Moldovan state determines emergence of distinct opinions about particular historical-cultural artifacts, statehood and possible trajectories of further state development. Division of opinions not only fragments approach towards national identity, but also exacerbates democratisation and europeanisation processes. Secondly, Moldova lacks not only the experience with statehood, but also faces political and normative heritage of ancient regimes. Because of that there are certain problems of implementing democratic values in Moldova. It means struggle with widespread corruption, as well as with the Soviet-style methods and practices. Namely the legacy of the Soviet system, such as a politically passive and apathetic population, authoritarian political aspirations shading with the formal mechanisms of democracy, the weak and poor democratic political... [to full text]

Since the early 1990s a growing number of constitution building processes in countries transitioning from authoritarian rule or recovering from war or severe institutional crisis have involved public participation. This increase stems from an assumption made by many peacebuilding scholars and practitioners that public participation in constitution building will lead to higher levels of democracy. This assumption has not, however, been the subject of systematic or comprehensive analysis. Therefore, the overarching purpose of this thesis is to scrutinize the participation-hypothesis - as it is referred to in this study. The study is a two-step investigation. The first part begins with an analysis of twenty cases of participatory constitution building that have occurred in post-conflict states, transitioning states and countries that have experienced a severe institutional crisis. In order to differentiate the cases in terms of how much influence participants were granted, an analytical framework is developed and the cases are categorized as either false, symbolic, limited, consultative or substantial participation. The participation-hypothesis is then empirically investigated by comparing democracy levels prior to and after the process for each of the 20 cases. In order to further test the hypothesis, cases of constitution making in which there was no public participation are then added to the investigation. These cases are included as a point of reference – the democratic outcome in this group is compared with the democratic outcome in the twenty participatory processes. The empirical results reveal that there is no relationship between public participation in constitution building processes and higher levels of democracy. On the contrary, some cases that involved considerable influence for participants have not experienced improved levels of democracy, while cases with low levels of influence for participants have shown democratic improvement. Moreover, a majority of cases of constitution making without public participation have also experienced increases in their democracy scores. Therefore, the conclusion of the first part of the study is that the participation-hypothesis does not stand up to empirical scrutiny. Particularly challenging for the participation-hypothesis is the fact that the analysis in part one shows that similar participatory processes have been followed by democratic improvement in some countries and democratic decline in others. Two such cases are Kenya and Zimbabwe. While democracy levels have increased in Kenya since the conclusion of the process, they have steadily declined in Zimbabwe. In the second part of the study, these two countries are therefore the object of intense, systematic and comparative scrutiny in order to explore factors beyond participation in constitution building that might explain the different trajectories of democracy. The comparison shows that the actions of political elites – in particular their ability to cooperate with each other – is the major explanation as to why the two wind up on different paths. The importance of elite cooperation is well-established in the democratization literature. One major conclusion of this study is therefore that the participation-hypothesis needs to be informed by insights drawn from this literature.

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of democratisation in peace building and conflict resolution. The findings of the study have revealed that democratisation plays a pivotal role in conflict resolution and peace building. It provides legitimacy for governments and encourages people's participation in decision-making on issues that affect their lives; democratic processes contribute to the effectiveness of the state policies and developmental strategies. The study has also showed that democratic institutions and practices foster the governmental accountability and transparency necessary to deter national and transnational crime and corruption and encourage increased responsiveness to popular concerns. In development, they increase the likelihood that the state goals reflect broad societal concerns and that the government is sensitive to the societal environmental costs of its development policies. By involving people in decision-making, democracy ensures mutual respect and satisfaction between the state and its citizens, and this in turn promotes peace and stability in a country. / M.A. (Peace studies and International Studies) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

This thesis explores the role of early development policies on the management of horizontal inequalities in Ghana and La Cote d'Ivoire. Using the wager between the first presidents of the two countries, this study charts the manner in which Horizontal Inequalities have been managed during three time periods: Independence, Structural Adjustment and Democratization.

This paper analyzes the effect of political and economic factors on the risk of regime change in countries between 1975 and 2010, using survival analysis with time-dependent covariates. The findings show that negative economic growth increases the risk of regime change in the following year, and that a higher level of GDP per Capita, as well as international trade, has an inhibiting effect on the risk of regime change in democracies. The results also show that countries with young regimes are more likely to experience a regime change, and that countries with a long tradition of democratic governance suffer virtually no risk of experiencing a regime failure. These findings lend heavy support to the democratic consolidation theory, while giving mixed support to other theories of economic and political causes of regime change. The more generalized approach to regime change used in this paper provides a stepping stone for opening up a greater understanding of the mechanisms which cause regime change in all types of governments, and regardless of the direction of the change in relation to democracy.

This essay has two aims. The first is to provide a better understanding of how youths in urban Mwanza envision a deepening of the democratic system in regard to the deliberative democracy theory by Jürgen Habermas and the agonistic pluralism by Chantal Mouffe. The second aim is to connect the empirical material – the democratic deepening visions of youths in urban Mwanza – to a theoretical discussion, transforming the democratic models into democratization chains. The theoretical contribution in this essay is to apply these theoretical models to an emerging democracy such as Tanzania, and to to transform the agonistic pluralism and deliberative models into democratization chains. The empirical material in this essay has further been gathered through semi-structured interviews with 19 youths in urban Mwanza. The results presented in the first analytical chapter shows that youths in urban Mwanza leans towards a vision of a deliberative model of democracy rather then an agonistic pluralism, but that a social class dimension could be seen as affecting the lean. Particularly less-educated females raised concerns that a deliberative approach would segment an unsatisfying political status quo. The theoretical discussion showed that the implications visions of a deepened democracy from youths in urban Mwanza theoretically could have on the democratization process changes if the theories are seen as models or chains.

A lack of historical perspective sustained the widespread view that participatory initiatives in Brazil represented a marked rupture from traditional forms of political engagement to radically new democratic practices. This view overlooks both incremental steps towards broader political participation taking place throughout the 20th century and setbacks restricting participation in the 1980s. This dissertation offers a historical account of the emergence of participatory democracy in Brazil that challenges this dominant view and calls attention to the importance of structural factors and national-level political-institutional contexts. Three case studies of municipal administrations in the late-1970s and early-1980s shine light on the impact of structural factors in the emergence, design, and outcome of participatory initiatives, and the contrast of these precursory experiences with the internationally known 1990s participatory models shows how participatory ideals and practices responded to the changing institutional context of the 1980s. This dissertation puts forward three central arguments. First, research should not treat citizen participation as a normative imperative but instead examine how it emerges through social and political struggles fueled by structural inequalities. Second, it is unfounded to assume that citizen participation will lead to profound transformations of national-level institutions, but it is equally erroneous to suppose that citizen participation is always intended to strengthen representative institutions; the long-term impact of direct citizen participation is an empirical rather than analytical or normative question. Third, a key challenge of participatory democracy today is to free itself from the inflated expectations imposed on it by its own enthusiastic supporters.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between NGOs and the democratization process in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The conditions shaping both the civil society and political development are analysed in the light of findings obtained through in-depth interviews with NGO leaders in Kyrgyzstan. Despite relative freedom for NGOs, civil society in Kyrgyzstan is still in its infancy. Soviet era conception of roles attributed to state and society still persist especially among the governmental officials and general population. Despite the problems of building a democratic regime in Kyrgyzstan, NGOs have achieved a certain level of development. Through building functioning state institutions together with a lively political society primarily including political parties, the potential of NGOs for democratic development can be more fully utilized.