Cabral Opiyo

Write a short essay (500-600 words) with sources on how a country can go towards a democratically elected or authoritarian regime Democracy Democracy is a system of governance where people govern themselves via set elections where representatives are chosen and when they directly vote on issues that directly affect them, all adults are eligible to participate either by voting or running for office (Held, D. 1987). Democratization is the process is the transition to a more democratic political regime including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system. Certain factors have to be present for a country to be termed democratic: open competition for office is allowed and there is more than one political party, there has to be a popularly elected head of state and legislature of representatives and the media has to be free to report facts and criticize the government of the day amongst other freedoms. Another important factor is the presence of a document like a constitution that set out policies and structures used to run the country (Dahl, R. 1956). Democracy is achieved in different ways including: the bottom-up process where the lower classes demand for their rights especially voting rights that the government cedes gradually, examples of such democracies include Great Britain. Top to bottom democracy is when the governing elites read the room and institute changes that give the lower classes more rights. Democracy has also been achieved via revolution e.g. the American & Russian revolutions. The conditions and strategies that facilitate a successful democratization process vary by region as a result of a number of historical and contextual factors that shape perceptions of power relations and levels of uncertainty during the transition period. These factors include previous experience with democracy, traditions of civilian control over the military, levels of mass mobilization, and learning effects from previous successful cases of democratization (Dahl, R. 1956). In Africa, authoritarian regimes are being increasingly challenged by movements advocating for democratic rule and the pressures are backed by external actors including aid donors and creditors who make it a condition for monetary support forcing such regimes to cede some rights to the people. Although pressures for change had been building in a number of countries, it was widely agreed that the ending of the cold war served as a catalyst for action. During the cold war, some countries capitalized on superpower competition, seeking military and development assistance from either the Soviet Union and its allies or from the West in exchange for strategic considerations (Holden, B. 1974). There are factors that help nations move towards democratic regimes including: high levels of literacy among the population, stable and consistent economic development and equality in spending power for better rooted democracy Some countries that have moved towards democratic regimes have collapsed after revolts and coups reverting to authoritarian regimes and that is why the process of democratization is said to have taken place after several successful elections and peaceful transitions of power after the populace has put their trust in the various institutions in a democratic state (Singer, M. & Wildavsky, A. 1993). Authoritarianism Authoritarianism concentrates power in one leader or elite minority’s hands and they wield this power arbitrarily paying no attention to any set of laws, there is no free challenge to their powers either from the citizenry and alternative political groups/parties are largely non-existent. While majority of states in the world have moved towards democracy, there are quite a few authoritarian nations e.g. Russia and China. In authoritarian systems, economic growth is more likely to be narrowly based on a small section of the population and corruption is likely to be higher. Democracies typically outperform authoritarian governments on a range of social and economic development indicators (Halperin, M. Siegle, J. & Weinstein, M., 2010). Authoritarian regimes do not necessarily lack a few facets that exist in democratic regimes; there maybe existence of institutions like the judiciary and elections but they’re geared towards further cementing these regime sin power. Countries slide towards authoritarian regimes when the ruling class: increases wealth, upward social mobility, functioning services, public order and patriotism are all sources of legitimacy compensating for a lack of civil liberties. A bargain is struck with the public called, ‘authoritarian social contract’ where the public accepts the regime’s tyrannical rule with no checks and balances in exchange for rising standards of living and life going on as usual. Other signs of states going towards authoritarian regimes include: suppression of anti-government activities, unregulated executive powers slowly being increased, limited political pluralism with gags placed on institutions like the judiciary and legislature. Challenges to authoritarian regimes arise from various actors including the international community, donors, the public and civil society. The response to these challenges is usually swift and restrictive including: restricting internet access, suppression of riots, jailing political dissidents, assassinations of opponents and violence against the media and citizenry. Bibliography Dahl, Robert A 1956: A Preface to Democratic Theory. Held, David 1987: Models of Democracy. Holden, Barry 1974: The Nature of Democracy. Singer, M. & Wildavsky, A. 1993: The Real World Order. Halperin, M. Siegle, J. & Weinstein, M., 2010: The Democracy Advantage, how Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace.