Important Reminders!!  Rough Draft of Plan of Investigation due Wednesday, 02/19!! 50pts Formative!!  Note Card Check #2 due Wednesday, 02/19!! (15 note cards, 2 sources represented, 20pts Formative)

Industrialized Democracies Pt. 1 02/12

Hallmarks of Industrialized Democracies  Elections  Determine who governs in democracies; voters choose men and women who will govern them in reasonably free and honest contests  Elections in these countries are run in far more open and corruption free ways than other types of states

Industrialized Democracies  Civil Society and Civic Culture  Elections can be bitterly contested, however no one thinks that challenges to the election will imperil the country’s democracy  Very few citizens question the basic principles that political life is based upon  Citizens participate in political and social groups, thereby tying them to their society

Industrialized Democracies  Rights  Democracies guarantee basic freedoms of press, religion, association and speech  Many of these rights are enshrined in a country’s constitution or deeply ingrained in a country’s culture (Great Britain)  Restrictions/Provisions are placed on these rights, but are rarely used and have little impact on political life in these countries

Industrialized Democracies  The Rule of Law  The people are governed by clear and fair rules rather than by the arbitrary, personal exercise of power  What they can and cannot do is spelled out in constitutions and ordinary laws  People can expect to be treated fairly by the government both in their routine dealings with the state (ex. taxes) and on those occasions when they come up against it (ex. accused of a crime)

Industrialized Democracies  Capitalism and Affluence (?)  Most political scientists agree that democracy can only exist alongside an affluent economy  However, IDs are not all equally wealthy  Not all provide the same services for their people

Emergence of Democracy Rise of individualism, capitalism and Protestantism, scientific revolution and exploration of the New World gave way to new ways of thinking  Society is composed of separate actors who operate on their own interest (state of nature)  People who were free of feudalism and other social hierarchies could be more creative; however how would the government meet these demands? Hobbes believed that humans had to give up some of their freedoms in order to protect the good of all

Building Democracies  Democracies, to a large extent, developed as a result of how the countries and their rulers handled four great transformations:  The creation of the nation and the state itself  The role of religion in society and government  The development of pressures for democracy  The Industrial Revolution Generally speaking, those states where democracy emerged the earliest had less trouble with these issues because the crises were spread out over a number of centuries, allowing society and leaders to reach consensus on one issue before the next occurred

Country Report Project  7 Paragraph Paper for Each Country in your region! -Intro -Structure of Govt. -Political Party System -Role of Constitution -Role/participation of Citizens -Successfulness of Govt. System -Conclusion

Outline  Structure of Government  ____________________________  Political party system  ____________________________