POL SCI 157 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Civil Liberties, Authoritarianism, Social Equality
Document Summary
Governments can be good and can be bad: good western democracies, bad germany"s nazi party. How can you constrain governments: constitution, legitimate democracy (fair elections, diffusion of power, international trade deals and law, get it to control itself. Democracy government of the people, by the people, for the people . Abraham lincoln: minimalist democracy a way to choose government leaders. Elected officials govern: expansive equitable power distribution; accountability. The rule of law prevails: key characteristics. Equal right to vote, join organizations and form, the freedom of expression, eligibility to run for public office: democracy is not the same as: Authoritariamism: a system in which a single individual or a small group of elites rule without checks on their power, no accountability in ruling class. Regime a set of rules and procedures in choosing leaders that perform under certain rules that do not change: monarchy, military, single-party, personalist, oligarchy, electoral authoritarian. Monarchy rules by religion, tradition or extreme repression.
