Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy

1959 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seymour Martin Lipset
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Existence And Stability ◽  
Political Philosopher ◽  
Determinants Of Action

The conditions associated with the existence and stability of democratic society have been a leading concern of political philosophy. In this paper the problem is attacked from a sociological and behavioral standpoint, by presenting a number of hypotheses concerning some social requisites for democracy, and by discussing some of the data available to test these hypotheses. In its concern with conditions—values, social institutions, historical events—external to the political system itself which sustain different general types of political systems, the paper moves outside the generally recognized province of political sociology. This growing field has dealt largely with the internal analysis of organizations with political goals, or with the determinants of action within various political institutions, such as parties, government agencies, or the electoral process. It has in the main left to the political philosopher the larger concern with the relations of the total political system to society as a whole.

Dimensions of Political Alienation

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada W. Finifter
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Marked Rise ◽  
Citizen Support ◽  
The Individual

In recent years there has emerged in this country a radical questioning and rejection of established political institutions unparalleled since the Civil War in its intensity and scope. One objective indicator of this trend since World War II is the marked rise in voluntary renunciation of American citizenship, an act which represents the formal and final estrangement of the individual from his former political ties. Available evidence suggests that estrangement from the polity is also widespread in countries throughout the world as fundamental questions are being raised about the legitimacy of political institutions and political leadership.Attitudes toward the political system have long been a concern of political scientists. Major orienting theories of the political system suggest that citizen support plays a crucial role in determining the structure and processes of political systems. Almond and Verba, for example, use the concept “civic culture” to refer to a complex mix of attitudes and behaviors considered to be conducive to democratic government. Easton underscores the fundamental importance of attitudes for system stability, focusing especially on “diffuse support” as a prerequisite for the integration of political systems. He suggests that “(w)here the input of support falls below [a certain] minimum, the persistence of any kind of system will be endangered. A system will finally succumb unless it adopts measures to cope with the stress.”The conversion of these general theoretical ideas into systematic empirical theory requires further rigorous and comprehensive analyses of types of citizen support and the development of empirical indicators for this domain.

scholarly journals THE ISSUE OF LEGITIMACY OF THE LATVIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Gunārs Ozolzīle
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Diffuse Support ◽  
Sufficient Resource

A democratic political system can be sustainable and stable only if it has society’s support that is based on legitimacy. So far, the attention of Latvian researchers has mostly been devoted to the so-called “ratings” of separate political institutions and politicians, but no attempt has been undertaken to investigate the political system as a whole through the prism of legitimacy. The aim of the present article is to explore whether there is a sufficient resource of legitimacy of the Latvian political system in order to provide stability and efficiency of the regime. The empirical basis of the research mostly consists of the results of the sociological research conducted in Latvia during the past six years (2011–2016). The data analysis of the present research is based on David Easton and Pippa Norris’ conceptual approach to the study of legitimacy of political systems. One of the conclusions that can be made is that the political system of Latvia is characterised by insufficient diffuse support, which then indicates that the political system experiences the problem of legitimacy. As there is a divided society in Latvia, both communities lack a shared national identity, which could connect the society. In addition, it can be stated that around half of the society is not satisfied with the functioning of the political regime. The analysis performed in the article allows concluding that the trust in political institutions is extremely low and the assessment of the political authority performance is highly negative.

Towards a Concept of Political Robustness

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172199997
Author(s):  
Eva Sørensen ◽  
Christopher Ansell
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Strong Capacity

How effective are different political institutions, policy-making processes and policies when it comes to mediating, mitigating and managing vertical and horizontal political tensions caused by disruptive societal challenges and political polarization? The present crisis for liberal democracy places this question high on the research agenda. A concept of political robustness is helpful for identifying the properties of political systems with a strong capacity for coping with political instability and conflict. This article defines political robustness, draws the contours of a conceptual framework for analysis of the political robustness of political systems and applies it illustratively to the political robustness of liberal democracies. We propose that the robustness of a political system depends on how much those who voice political demands—which differs greatly over time and between regimes—are involved in aggregating and integrating political demands into binding decisions.

scholarly journals The Similarities between the Political System of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Laos People’s Democratic Republic

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 56-62
Author(s):  
Ho Duc Hiep ◽  
Vu Hong Van
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Common Feeling

Vietnam and Laos relationship, timeless friendship is a common feeling that people of the two countries have witnessed over the years. The study of clarifying the political system of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Laos People’s Democratic Republic is of great significance in analyzing the organization and implementation of political power and power of the government, organization and operation of the Party, the State and socio-political organizations. At the same time, this is also a good source of references for teachers, learners and scholars interested in research, teaching and learning. Within the scope of this article, we focus on clarifying the political system in Vietnam and Laos at the following points: (i) The concept and characteristics of the political system of Vietnam and Laos; (ii) The political institutions of the political systems of Vietnam and Laos, from which comments and assessments of the political system model of the two countries.

scholarly journals Political Parties and Their Role in the Systems of Government

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Vait Qerimi
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Political Sciences ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
Dynamic Forces ◽  
The Government

In modern democracies, political parties have a very important political role. The existence of political parties is vital for the functioning of democracy. Political parties remain the cornerstone of the systems of government, and without their presence and operation, it is impossible to talk about the system and democratic institutions. Governance in a democracy means to and through political parties. Political parties and competition between them create the political system. Political parties constitute the central object of political sciences and they are almost always the main protagonists in the political systems. They undoubtedly represent the political power and the motor of parliamentarianism. Through the parliamentary action, the political parties build and operate the entire state structure of a state, regarding the functioning of parliament, the government, the head of state, to the local government bodies and other political institutions. Political parties are the socially dynamic forces representing one of the most significant achievements of democracy. This is well-argued with their very central role and crucial importance of the parties.

Political Institutions and Afrikaner Social Structures in the Republic of South Africa

1963 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Trapido
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Boer War ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Linguistic Groups ◽  
Demographic Patterns

The long-term Afrikaner drive for power has been strongly influenced by the demographic structure of the South African electorate. Within the framework of the primary political system, secondary structures make deviations from the demographic patterns extremely difficult. The purpose of this paper is to trace the relations between the population cleavage and the composition of basic social institutions, and their bearing on the distribution of political power; and to raise the question of the viability of the resulting system.Let us start with demography. Power in South Africa resides in the two White linguistic groups—the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of mainly Dutch settlers—and the English-speaking descendants of mainly British settlers—and parliamentary party affiliations have come to be determined almost entirely by linguistic and cultural ties; that is, by the structure of the society. The demographic composition of the electorate (Table I)—three voters speak Afrikaans to every two who speak English—has tended to influence the direction that the political system has taken. Because Afrikaners were always a majority of the electorate there were, amongst their political leaders, some who saw that if those who spoke the Afrikaans language voted, not as workers, or farmers, or protectionists but as Afrikaners, then political power would be theirs. General Louis Botha, inverting von Clausewitz, had declared after the Boer War: “the battle which was won and lost in the fields of war must be fought again upon the political platform.” The history of party politics in South Africa is little more than an account of the various attempts, and the ultimate success, of Afrikaner leaders to attain this objective.

Division de pouvoir et intégration social: de Montesquieu à la crise actuelle du parlementarisme

1968 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-269
Author(s):  
André Vachet
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Western Democracy ◽  
Vital Forces

Division of power and social integrationExplanation of some of the recent challenges to western democracy may be found in a re-examination of Montesquieu's thought. Here we find the theory of the separation of power to be far more complex than is implied in the simple divisions of legislature, executive, and judiciary. For Montesquieu, the separation of power is more a social division than a political or juridical one. He contemplated returning the organs of political power to various social forces, e.g. monarchy, aristocracy, and bourgeoisie, and that then the self-assertion of forces would be restrained by the resistance of other social groups. The realization of its goals would require every important social group to integrate itself both to society and to the state and to seek its goals through realization of the general good.Since Montesquieu's time, political structures would seem to have been very little changed even though social structures have been greatly altered by the rise of economic powers. Political institutions have been losing touch with the vital forces of society and these have had to find other channels of expression. The personalization of power, the rise of the executive, violence, and increasing paternalism may be viewed as phenomena of compensation by which attempts are being made to bridge the gap between the structures of political power and those of a society which has been restructured.Revigoration of parliamentary democracy would seem to require that all vital social forces be reintegrated into the political system and be given meaningful channels of political expression. Failure to make such changes opens the way to identification of the political powers with technocracy and the increasing general use of violence in the resolution of social problems.

Electoral system as a motivation to reforming political system- The Iraqi model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamall Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Masses

The flaws and major flaws in the political systems represent one of the main motives that push the political elite towards making fundamental reforms, especially if those reforms have become necessary matters so that: Postponing them or achieving them affects the survival of the system and the political entity. Thus, repair is an internal cumulative process. It is cumulative based on the accumulated experience of the historical experience of the same political elite that decided to carry out reforms, and it is also an internal process because the decision to reform comes from the political elite that run the political process. There is no doubt that one means of political reform is to push the masses towards participation in political life. Changing the electoral system, through electoral laws issued by the legislative establishment, may be the beginning of political reform (or vice versa), taking into account the uncertainty of the political process, especially in societies that suffer from the decline of democratic values, represented by the processes of election from one cycle to another. Based on the foregoing, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the Electoral and political system, in particular, tracking and studying the Iraqi experience from the first parliamentary session until the issuance of the Election Law No. (9) for the year (2020).

Political processes in the post-Soviet space: new trends and old problems

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The authors of the book analyze domestic political processes and international relations in the post-Soviet space. They examine the balance of political forces in Belarus after the presidential elections in August 2020, and transformations of political systems in Ukraine and Moldova. The main features of formation of the political institutions in the countries of South Caucasus and Central Asia and the latest trends in their devel-opment are analyzed. Attention is paid to the Karabakh and Donbass conflicts. The book examines the policy of major non-regional actors (USA, EU, China, Turkey) in the post-Soviet space. The results of develop-ment of the EAEU have been summed up. The role in the political processes in the post-Soviet space of a number of international organizations and associations (the CIS, the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the CSTO etc.) is revealed.

scholarly journals THE CONCEPTS «CHIEFDOM» AND «STATE» IN THE EVALUATION OF THE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE EARLY MEDIEVAL EMPIRES OF CENTRAL ASIA

2016 ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
S. A. Vasyutin
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Complexity Level ◽  
Total Compliance

The article deals with the evaluation of the political institutions in early medievalCentral Asia. The existing approaches to defining the governing systems of the imperial nomad unions focus on the concepts "chiefdom" and "state", but in both cases researchers have to state an absence of total compliance of the nomadic empires' governing structures to the classical attributes of chiefdom and state, thus constantly making reservations, which blur these concepts. The purpose of the work is to consider the possibility of solving this problem by using a broader "net" of terms determining different political systems and stages in their development in relation to early medieval nomadic empires. The methodological base of the article is the modern conceptions of multilinearity and diversity of the political genesis. The research has resulted in determination of a range of concepts which could better reflect the specificity of political institutions of different nomadic empires or make this evaluation more neutral but providing a clearer understanding of the complexity level of the political organization. 

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