It is common to qualify democratic governance as not simply democracy but liberal democracy. This is natural because freedom has been associated with democracy dating back to the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. It is difficult to imagine an illiberal democracy which retained the foundations of democratic governance within an authoritarian or even totalitarian context.... Continue Reading →
Because the President is likely to become impeached due to a phone call with the Ukrainian President, it might help readers to have a little background on this little-known country. Just thirty years ago it was a part of the Soviet Union. It wasn’t simply part of the Warsaw Pact like Hungary or Poland. The... Continue Reading →
There is a growing literature on the decline of democratic governance. Larry Diamond declared the world was in a democratic recession years ago and Freedom House has confirmed a long-term decline in democratic governance in their annual assessments. Of course, the literature has warned about a crisis of democracy in the past. Samuel Huntington cowrote... Continue Reading →
Theories about presidentialism remain in the shadow of the “Perils of Presidentialism” thesis from Juan Linz. But a lot has changed since he made the case against presidential systems. Governments in nearly every region of the world have adopted some form of Presidential system. Chaisty, Cheeseman and Power have written a work which uses contemporary... Continue Reading →
There is no clear demarcation between history and political science. There is an unspoken rule where historians establish an artificial line between current events and the historical past. Yet this line has always been artificial. The real difference between political science and history has been its academic approach. The historian analyzes specific events for their... Continue Reading →
Political modernization for Samuel Huntington involved the creation of political institutions designed to facilitate the professionalization and organization necessary for an expanded role of governance. Note it is the institutions which are central for political modernization. Political parties, for example, became vehicles for mass political participation not just within democracies but even within nondemocratic political... Continue Reading →
Democratic theory begins with Robert Dahl. No one theorist has been able to surpass him for his breadth and clarity about democracy. So many expectations are placed on Dahl that it is only natural he disappoints. But this is a testament to his influence rather than a criticism of his work. Enough time has passed... Continue Reading →
Inequality was a hot topic within political and economic conversations before Piketty wrote Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Yet the publication of this landmark work gave intellectual context to the criticisms of the gaps within wealth and income. Branko Milanovic explores inequality on a wider scale than Piketty. Indeed, he handles the questions Piketty purposely... Continue Reading →
Every true student of political science will find their way to Political Order in Changing Societies. It is possible to escape an undergraduate program without reading this seminal text. I know I did. But I was introduced to some of his earlier articles which formed the basis to the first few chapters. It wasn’t until... Continue Reading →
Fukuyama’s two volume work is largely based upon Huntington’s Political Order in Changing Societies. It’s a very high bar to achieve. Political Order in Changing Societies is an absolute masterpiece. It is so thorough and so well researched. Huntington bridges the divide between the behaviorists and the traditionalists before him, so he simply has a... Continue Reading →
