Advanced Democracies

1
Advanced Democracies

• Defining
• Paths
• Freedom and equality
• States and sovereignty
• Social change and conflict
• Economic Change

2
Quiz

• How are Postmodern values different from Modern
  values?
• What is the major dilemma facing Advanced
  Democracies in regard to the welfare state and an
  aging population?

3
Defining Advanced Democracies

• Which countries are these?
• Past definitions first, second, third worlds
• Problems with these terms democracy and
  capitalism, end of Cold War
• Countries move between different categories!
• Definition institutionalized democracy and high
  level of economic development

4
Paths of Advanced Democracies

• How did they get to where they are today?
• Various paths of democratization and
  industrialization
• Early democratization and industrialization (US,
  Canada)
• Late democratization, early industrialization
  (Germany)
• Late industrialization, late democratization
  (Japan)

5
Freedom and Equality in the Advanced Democracies

• All share
• institutionalized liberal democracy
• Private property and free markets
• High level of economic development
• Differences, though, in how freedom and equality
  reconciled
• Civil liberties
• Participation and competition
• State role in the economy (liberal, social
  democratic, mercantilist)

6
States and Sovereignty

• Hallmarks of modern politics
• Changing in the advanced democracies?
• Pull of authority upward Integration
• Pull of authority downward Devolution
• Both challenge state power

7
Integration and the European Union

• Created after World War Two
• Idea to prevent war through interdependence
• Pool resources to have greater authority in
  international system (Cold War)
• Slow development from 1951 to present
• Transfer of sovereignty incrementally

8
Institutions of the EU

• Bodies that reflect domestic political
  institutions, with some differences
• European Commission representatives appointed
  from member states, make legislation
• Council of Ministers ministers from member
  states cabinets, approve legislation
• European Parliament directly elected members
  that approve legislation
• European Court of Justice interprets EU law

9
From Intergovernmental to Supranational?

• EU has gained more power over time
• No longer intergovernmental
• Now supranationallike a state of its own
• Monetary Unionmost member states gave up own
  currency in 2002 for euro
• Major loss of sovereigntycountries central
  banks lost many of their traditional powers
• How good has been euro for EU members?

10
Enlargement of the EU

• In 2004, took on ten new members
• Most post-communist countries of Eastern Europe,
  former Soviet Union
• How will this affect EU?
• Decision making in a larger body
• Costs of subsidies and benefits for poorer new
  members causes conflict
• Former Soviet States Skepticism
• Far from over

11
Rejection of the EU Constitution

• Why?
• - Fear of loss of Sovereignty (Too Liberal and
  too Socialist)
• - Too long and too difficult to understand
• - Democratic Deficit

12
Supranationalism and Democracy

• Who controls the EU?
• Absence of direct popular control
• Notion of the democratic deficit
• Recent rejection of EU constitution by some
  members has led to confusion over future of EU
  and what changes are needed

13
Devolution and Democracy

• Power not just moving up, as with EU
• Also moving down
• Devolution powers and resources are transferred
  away from central state institutions and vested
  at a lower level

14
Why Devolution?

• Counter public mistrust of distant government
  and state
• Greater flexibility and local participation
• Resolve ethnic or national identity conflicts by
  giving more power to discontent groups
• Helps reinvigorate politics or simply undercuts
  state sovereignty?

15
Limits of Devolution

• Post-September 11, move back toward
  centralization
• State power increased, devolution seen as a
  possible threat to security

16
Social Change and Conflict Postmodern Values

• Changes at societal level as well
• Traditional modern values
• Rationality and science
• Individualism and autonomy
• Materialism
• Growing skepticism of these values by 1960s
• Environmentalism
• Criticism of nationalism and patriotism

17
The Content of Postmodern Values

• Less focused on idea of progress
• Quality of life issues more central
• Health
• Environment
• Leisure
• Personal equality
• Diversity
• Hostility to centralized power (devolution,
  integration)

18
Diversity, Identity, and the Challenge to
Postmodern Values

• Are postmodern values really taking hold?
• Affected in part by wave of immigration across
  advanced democracies
• Large numbers
• Diverse groups of peoples within and between
  advanced democracies

19
Identity and Migration

• Assimilation or multiculturalism?
• Will migration undercut postmodern values?
• Will advanced democracies become more different
  from each other due to migration?

20
Economic Change Postindustrialism

• Modern economies built upon industrialization,
  away from agriculture
• Now moving from industry and toward service
  sector non-tangible goods
• Finance, insurance
• Communication, education
• Legal, health care
• Majority of people in advanced democracies now
  work in service sector

21
Postindustrialisms Effects

• Greater devolution of industry?
• Less hierarchical
• More virtual
• More international
• More flexible and autonomous
• Reinforces postmodern values?
• Marginalization of those without education?
• Shapes new political struggles?
• How much of this is over-exaggerated?

22
Maintaining the Welfare State

• Important element of most advanced democracies
• Wide array of social expenditures enjoyed by
  society
• But problems as well
• Increasingly expensive, such as health care,
  pensions
• Populations getting older!
• Who will pay for this?
• Migration as a way to solve? Will people accept?

23
Future Issues

• States face integration and devolution
• Societies face new values and old ideologies
• Economies face changing workplace and aging
  workforce
• How will these areas in combination transform
  freedom and equality in the coming decades?