Comparative Politics

Civil society and direct democracy

Christoffer Cappelen
cpc@ifs.ku.dk

December 2018
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Agenda

1. Introduction
2. Questions?
3. Civil society
4. Direct democracy
5. Syllabus & exam
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Civil society (Diamond)

• Civil society: ”Civil society is the realm of organized social life that is open,
voluntary, self-generating, at least partially self-supporting, autonomous
from the state, and bound by a legal order or set of shared rules” (p. 221)
• ≠ society: it involves citizens acting collectively in a public sphere to
express their interests, passions, preferences, and ideas, to exchange
information, to achieve collective goals, to make demands on the state, to
improve the structure and functioning of the state, and to hold state
officials accountable (between the private sphere and the state)
• ≠ political society, which encompasses all those organized actors whose
primary goal is to win control of the state (or at least some position for
themselves within it)
• Civil society is concerned with public ends (rather than private) and relates
to the state in some way (but does not seek to win control)
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Five features of (a strong) civil society

1. Self-government: how an organization formally governs internal affairs

2. Goals and methods: democratic goals and methods
3. Organizational institutionalization: institutionalization contributes to
stability, predictability, and governability of a democratic regime
• Autonomy, adaptability, coherence, complexity
4. Pluralism: (vs. corporatism?)
5. Density: number of associations à the greater density, the more
memberships the average citizen is likely to have, the wider range of
societal interests and activities will find organizational expression
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Civil society and democratic transitions

Civil society advances democracy in two generic ways:

1. By helping to generate a transition from authoritarian rule to (at least)

electoral democracy
• Democracy not simply the product of elites leading, crafting and negotiating
transitions – it is important to stress how crucial has been the role of ”the public” –
organized and mobilized through civil society – in many cases of third-wave
democratization
2. By deepening and consolidating democracy once it is established
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Civil society and democratic consolidation

A rich and pluralistic civil society deepens democracy and ensures

”democratic consolidation”!

• What is democratic consolidation?

• Relatedly, how do we define democracy?
• How does civil society contribute to democratic consolidation/deepening?
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Civil society and democratic consolidation

Civil society deepens democracy by...

• Providing ”the basis for the limitation of state power, hence for the control
of the state by society, and hence for democratic political institutions as
the most effective means of exercising that control” (p. 239)
• Supplementing the role of political parties in stimulating political
participation, increasing the political efficacy and skill of democratic
citizens, and promoting an appreciation of the obligations as well as rights
of democratic citizenship
• Generation of democratic habits, inculcating democratic values (tolerance,
moderation, compromise)
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Civil society and democratic consolidation

Civil society deepens democracy by...

• Educating citizens for democracy
• If civil society is to help develop and consolidate democracy, its mission cannot
simply be to check, critize, and resist the state. It must also complement and improve
the state and enhance its democratic legitimacy and effectiveness
• Structuring multiple channels, beyond the polical party, for articulating,
aggregating, and representing interests (especially minorities)
• Effecting a transition from clientelism to citizenship at the local level
• It is the local level that provides the anchor, the social foundation for national chains
of patron-client relations
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Civil society and democratic consolidation

Civil society deepens democracy by...

• Generating a wide range of interests that may cross-cut, and so mitigate,
the principal polarities of political conflict
• Recruiting and training new political leaders
• Explicit democracy-building purposes, beyond leadership training
• E.g. election monitoring, stimulate debate
• Information dissemination
• Conflict mediation and resolution
• Building social capital
• Generate legitimacy of the political system
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Pippa Norris: Explanations for political participation

Explanations for long-term developments in political participation

1. Modernization: increased demands for more active public participation
2. Institutions: how the structure of the state sets opportunities for
participation, e.g. electoral laws, party system, constitutional framework
3. Agency theories: the role of traditional mobilizing organizations in civic
society, e.g. parties, trade unions, religious groups
• Social capital (Putnam)
4. Resources and motivations: political interest, information, confidence
(who participates?)
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Direct democracy: Are referendums bad for minorities?

• Strengthens deliberation • Majoritarian by definition

• Controlling agency • Might lead to violation of minority
rights
• Legislative assemblies are also bad
• Turnout (legitimacy)
for minorities
• E.g. Jim Crow, internment of Japanese- • Informed voters?
American citizens during WWII

Maybe it depends on popular preferences:

”In countries with direct democratic institutions, public preferences on

minority issues will have a stronger impact on minority-related policies
than in countries where no direct democratic instruments are available.”
(p. 208)
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Minorities and referendums

• p = policies
• m = median voter preferences
• x = direct democracy (or not)
• According to Down’s median voter theorem: H = J
• Why not?

p m
X = 1
H − J = K(L)
p m
X = 0
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Klar til eksamen!!!

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Eksamen (forberedelse)

• Læs pensum
• Overvej hvordan de forskellige uger/tekster relaterer til hinanden
• Institutioner
• Aktører
• Begreber
• Brug ugesedler / slides
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Bloom’s taksonomi
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Eksamen

• Svar på spørgsmålene – hvad bliver I bedt om

• Diskussion er ikke bare at redegøre for og sammenligne forskellige tekster
• Hvad er argumenterne, hvordan er de forskellige
• Hvilke antagelser ligger bag deres argumenter (implicitte/eksplicitte)
• Hvordan placerer de sig i forhold til hinanden
• Bilag
• Hvad er hovedargumentet/konklusioner
• (Empiri)
• Hvad er antagelserne/teori
• Begreber: definition, konceptualisering, operationalisering
• Det er ikke en metodeeksamen
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Eksamen

• Brug pensum
• Vis at I kan pensum, at I kan trække tråde mellem de forskellige tekster/uger
• Forhold jer kritisk (men faglig) – hvor kommer argumentationen til kort,
problematiske antagelser, hvor meget kan man generalisere
• Læs opgaven igennem (flere gange)!!!
• Henvisninger
• Grammatik
• Sprog
• Er det klart, hvad jeres argument er (kan det gøres endnu klarere)
• Svarer I på spørgsmålet
• Er der en naturlig progression i argumentationen