What Democracy Is. . . and Is Not
Schmitter, Philippe C.
Karl, Terry Lynn, 1947-
Journal of Democracy, Volume 2, Number 3, Summer 1991, pp. 75-88 (Article)
Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press
DOI: 10.1353/jod.1991.0033
For additional information about this article
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jod/summary/v002/2.3schmitter.html
Access Provided by UMass Amherst Libraries at 09/22/12 8:21PM GMT
,
, WHAT DEMOCRACY IS
... A N D IS N O T
Philippe C. Schmitter & Terry Lynn Karl
Philippe C. Schmitter is professor of political science and director of the
Center for European Studies at Stanford University. Terry Lynn Karl is
associate professor of political science and director of the Center for
Latin American Studies at the same institution. The original, longer
version of this essay was written at the request of the United States
Agency for International Development, which is not responsible for its
content.
For some time, the word democracy has been circulating as a debased
currency in the political marketplace. Politicians with a wide range of
convictions and practices strove to appropriate the label and attach it to
their actions. Scholars, conversely, hesitated to use it--without adding
qualifying adjectives--because of the ambiguity that surrounds it. The
distinguished American political theorist Robert Dahl even tried to
introduce a new term, "polyarchy," in its stead in the (vain) hope of
gaining a greater measure of conceptual precision. But for better or
worse, we are "stuck" with democracy as the catchword of contemporary
political discourse. It is the word that resonates in people's minds and
springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of
life; it is the word whose meaning we must discern if it is to be of any
use in guiding political analysis and practice.
The wave of transitions away from autocratic rule that began with
Portugal's "Revolution of the Carnations" in 1974 and seems to have
crested with the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe
in 1989 has produced a welcome convergence towards a common
definition of democracy. ~ Everywhere there has been a silent
abandonment of dubious adjectives like "popular," "guided," "bourgeois,"
and "formal" to modify "democracy." At the same time, a remarkable
consensus has emerged concerning the minimal conditions that polities
must meet in order to merit the prestigious appellation of "democratic."
Moreover, a number of international organizations now monitor how well
Journal of Democracy Vol.2,No.3 Summer 1991
Schmitter, Philippe C.
Karl, Terry Lynn, 1947-
Journal of Democracy, Volume 2, Number 3, Summer 1991, pp. 75-88 (Article)
Published by The Johns Hopkins University Press
DOI: 10.1353/jod.1991.0033
For additional information about this article
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jod/summary/v002/2.3schmitter.html
Access Provided by UMass Amherst Libraries at 09/22/12 8:21PM GMT
,
, WHAT DEMOCRACY IS
... A N D IS N O T
Philippe C. Schmitter & Terry Lynn Karl
Philippe C. Schmitter is professor of political science and director of the
Center for European Studies at Stanford University. Terry Lynn Karl is
associate professor of political science and director of the Center for
Latin American Studies at the same institution. The original, longer
version of this essay was written at the request of the United States
Agency for International Development, which is not responsible for its
content.
For some time, the word democracy has been circulating as a debased
currency in the political marketplace. Politicians with a wide range of
convictions and practices strove to appropriate the label and attach it to
their actions. Scholars, conversely, hesitated to use it--without adding
qualifying adjectives--because of the ambiguity that surrounds it. The
distinguished American political theorist Robert Dahl even tried to
introduce a new term, "polyarchy," in its stead in the (vain) hope of
gaining a greater measure of conceptual precision. But for better or
worse, we are "stuck" with democracy as the catchword of contemporary
political discourse. It is the word that resonates in people's minds and
springs from their lips as they struggle for freedom and a better way of
life; it is the word whose meaning we must discern if it is to be of any
use in guiding political analysis and practice.
The wave of transitions away from autocratic rule that began with
Portugal's "Revolution of the Carnations" in 1974 and seems to have
crested with the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe
in 1989 has produced a welcome convergence towards a common
definition of democracy. ~ Everywhere there has been a silent
abandonment of dubious adjectives like "popular," "guided," "bourgeois,"
and "formal" to modify "democracy." At the same time, a remarkable
consensus has emerged concerning the minimal conditions that polities
must meet in order to merit the prestigious appellation of "democratic."
Moreover, a number of international organizations now monitor how well
Journal of Democracy Vol.2,No.3 Summer 1991
