This thesis is a collection of three independent essays on the causes and consequences of local elections in non-democratic regimes. The first essay examines the political consequences of local elections on the first democratic election after the fall of an autocratic regime. My theoretical analysis highlights that officials that were appointed by upper levels of government have a stronger incentive to continue to use local patronage networks to signal their alignment to upper levels of government
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mistakenly believe that the Constitution is based off of the Ancient Greek’s idea of democracy‚ in which people voted themselves on issues pertaining to their government (Samons 1). While the founding fathers did use a kind of democracy‚ it was a representative rather than pure democracy. The American government does‚ however‚ use direct democracy in certain states‚ for better or worse. The theory behind direct democracy seems to fit what the American people want exactly. The people have a direct say
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policy areas? A Liberal Democracy is a merging of liberalism and democracy. Ludwig von Mises (1927) describes liberalism as a strategy for achieving the dream of freedom‚ rather than merely a theory. Liberalism inspires political emancipation (Kelly‚ 2004) to the extent where all citizens can exercise their natural rights without infringing on those of others and inevitably‚ ensuring the citizens’ autonomy. This objective is achieved through operating in a democracy. Democracy is a system of rule by
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Democracy‚ as defined by Polybius‚ was a “regime based on effective rule by the people.” In Polybius’ Histories‚ democracy was not based on each citizen having the ‘right to do whatever they wish or propose’ but true democracy relied on “reverence to the gods‚ succour of parents‚ respect to elders‚ obedience to laws‚ are traditional and habitual‚ in such communities” as well as decisions being decided by the majority. It has been agreed upon by most ancient historians that Rome was not a democracy
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Democracy as a Universal Value Amartya Sen Copyright © 1999 National Endowment for Democracy and the Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved. Journal of Democracy 10.3 (1999) 3-17 In the summer of 1997‚ I was asked by a leading Japanese newspaper what I thought was the most important thing that had happened in the twentieth century. I found this to be an unusually thought-provoking question‚ since so many things of gravity have happened over the last hundred years. The European empires
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evident that democracy is the best political system which we have. Currently there are 3.1 billion people who live in democracies and 2.66 billion people who do not (Schlesinger‚ 1997: 1). Thus‚ more people currently live under democracy as opposed to any other political system. This is a clear indication of how desirable democracy has become in the world. While democracy is not perfect‚ the positive aspects have led to a call for democracy in various countries in the world. Democracy is undoubtedly
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Is democracy a necessary condition for development? In the modern and globalized world‚ it is common to find democratic institutions in the most economically developed countries. Democratic regimes look different all across the world‚ and the term itself is multi-faceted. For the sake of discussion‚ in its simplest terms‚ I will refer to democracy as a system of governance where the population that is governed elects their leaders. A substantive democracy would include more such the promotion
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Winston Churchill’s Quote on Democracy "Many forms of government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all wise. Indeed‚ it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government‚ except for all the others that have been tried from time to time." - Winston Churchill‚ 1947. This quote represents the views of Winston Churchill‚ the former Prime Minister of Great Britain‚ not only on democracy‚ but on government as a whole
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FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY IN INDIA “Democracy is more a way of life than a form of government.” – Abraham Lincoln. The framers of Indian Democracy would have never thought that one day their brainchild would be the largest Democracy in world. After World War II all the countries which gained independence and became democratic along with India have either turned into dictatorship or come under army rule. Ever since India‚ achieved
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a Citizen in a Democracy A Democracy is a type of government that is for the people to choose their leaders and to hold their leaders accountable for their policies and their conduct in office. The people are the ones who decide what they want and who they want to represent them‚ usually by a majority vote. But who exactly are these people? We refer to them as citizens of where ever they are from. We are citizens of the United States of America and we also live in a democracy. As citizens in
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