Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Democratization AND Democratisation'

This thesis examines democratic transitions that occur in the context of international administration, where international actors not only provide assistance and guidance regarding domestic development, but also hold temporary executive authority over some or all of the functions of government. It argues that the process of regime change in the context of international administration is systematically different from more conventional settings, where such extensive international intervention is absent. The theoretical framework of the thesis suggests that the most significant impact of international administration derives from the fact that external actors assume roles conventionally held by domestic actors, and thus have available to them extensive mechanisms of influence at the domestic level. International agents can favour some local elites over others, structure the political environment through agenda-setting and veto powers, and ultimately bypass local actors if deemed necessary by drafting and imposing laws and institutions. As a result, the presence of international administrators heavily shapes the final mode of transition, and one of the most significant implications of the external influence is that purely non-democratic regime outcomes are unlikely to emerge. However, the influences of international administration are not always positive, and neither are they constant across contexts. The final impact on the transition process itself will depend in large part on the nature of the domestic political landscape, and in particular the balance of power and ideology among the domestic political parties. When domestic elites are favourable to democracy, international administrations can work with local actors to co-author a new democratic regime through a pacted transition. When dominant local parties are opposed to democratic development, however, the international and domestic interaction may contribute to a more conflicrual and contentious mode of transition entailing elements of international imposition. The nature of the transition mode will, in turn, have implications for post-transition regime consolidation. These findings are based on a structured, focused comparison of three cases, those of Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor. In attempting to isolate the international influence, the case studies utilise the process tracing method to identify the causal mechanisms that connect international actions to democratic political outcomes, and the experiences in each case are compared to facilitate the generation of bounded generalisations about the impact of international administration on the processes of regime change.

As a culturally distinctive region, Asia was chosen as the sample for this study. This empirical study investigated what the major trends of democratisation were in Asia between 1981 and 2005: why some countries became democratic while other countries failed to follow suit during that period. The main research hypothesis was: “That is it was mainly economic development that drove democratisation in Asia between 1981 and 2005”. Although some studies have studied the impact of economic development on democratisation in Asia, their findings have been inconclusive and focuses sometimes different. [To investigate the research hypothesis, 24 Asian countries were selected…measurement tools used etc…] For this research work, statistical and case study methods were applied. The data used in the analyses were collected from established data sources e.g. Freedom House (Freedom in the World, n.d.) and United Nations Statistics Division (UN Stat, n.d.). Repeated Measures in Linear Mixed Modeling (LMM) were used to analyse the quantitative data. Three case studies supplemented the findings of statistical analyses. Historical information and institutional and legal facts were also used in the case studies. This study found that increases in the level of economic development along with its equitable distribution in society and positive roles of political actors increase the level of democratisation in Asia. Some pro-democratic political and social institutions, such as tradition of parliamentarianism, and international organisations, for example Bretton wood institutions, also led to democratisation. A low extent of national political divide was found to result in a considerably high level of democratisation in a country where confrontation between major political forces is the main feature of politics. This study also found that a partial democracy with Asian values, economic legitimacy, a lack of corruption and a “systematic control” over opposition politicians can survive, and is not prone to higher level of democratisation. The Taiwan case revealed that, amongst other factors, the role of political actors and economic equity along with economic development is also vital for democratisation. The Singapore case explained how a “hybrid regime” in a rich country outsmarts democratisation. The study of Bangladesh provides an idea about other elements, e.g. lower level of political confrontation, that push for higher levels of democratisation.

This thesis investigates the intellectual foundations of the thinking of the father of the modern West German armed forces, Wolf Graf von Baudissin, during their establishment between 1951 and 1956. Its aim is to identify the main areas of reform as advocated by Baudissin as well as to shed light on central features of Baudissin's character and ideas, primarily his ideas on the role and impact of democracy in a modern society. The thesis demonstrates how the environment in which Baudissin operated was characterised by strong opposition to new ideas by former Wehrmacht soldiers, whose ideas belonged to a traditionalist movement of military thinking. It also reveals how Baudissin's ideas were to a large extent the product of collaboration with a great number of politicians, academics and intellectuals, some of whom dominated the intellectual scene of the early post-1945 Federal Republic. The thesis demonstrates how Baudissin's thinking was influenced by certain polarities, out of which he developed three historical types of soldiers as an intellectual response to opposition. Baudissin's proposals for reform were directed towards the German youth as those who were to build the new West German post-war society. He stressed the extensive democratic rights allocated by the Federal Republic's constitution and the positive educational value of the proposed reforms, all in the face of accusations that they were utopian. Investigating Baudissin's intellectual foundations, the thesis stresses Baudissin's positive image of occidental culture, with a strong attachment to ethical and communitarian values, and a negative image of Russia as the exponent of communism and authoritarianism. Looking specifically at democracy, the thesis highlights Baudissin's emphasis on democracy by proclaiming that his conversion to democracy was the product of amalgamation of pre-war conservative thinking with modern democratic liberalism. The thesis finally argues that the overall image of an ethical-democratic citizensoldier, the 'Staatsbürger in Uniform' negates the historical antinomy between the condition of being a soldier and a citizen.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study has set to describe and explain the causal relationship between the process of globalisation, and that of democratisation and development in South Africa. Understanding this process required an analysis of the political and economic patterns followed, and policy choices made by state elites in South Africa, and to compare these processes with other countries that are also integrating into the global political economy. In South Africa, the dominance of the external factor on the country's socio-economic and development policy making process is exposed in this study. Analysis of the progress of South Africa's macro-economic policy (GEAR) in creating sustainable economic growth, and in linking it with the locally defined notion of 'people-based development' (as per RDP document, 1994) over a five-year period reveals firstly, that while GEAR is portrayed as both an economic and a 'people-based development' policy, it is an externally oriented policy whose ends are largely the promotion of transnational capitalist interest. The contradiction is that while a redress of development discrepancies (i.e. by providing social-welfare, health, education, clean water, electricity, transport and housing) calls for an increase in government expenditure, GEAR's fiscal stance prohibits such spending. South Africa's development policy represents a much broader and a common problem in the global socio-economic superstructure, solutions for which cannot be derived by analysing the policy of only one country, but the whole transnational political-economic system. The problems of the current global political-economic order and its development programs remains naked for all to see. Even common sense indicates that the North-South power relations are one-sided, problematic and should not be allowed to continue indefinitely as they stand. In addition, that the underdeveloped countries should continue to play an active role in global structures such as the UN, the UNOs such as UNCTAD, the WTO, and other international institutions if they are to impact on policies that govern the North-South relations.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om die verhouding tussen die proses van die ontplooiing van globalisasie, demokratisering, neo-liberalisme en sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling in Suid- Afrika, te beskryf en te verduidelik. Om hierdie verhouding te kan verstaan is 'n analise van die politiese en ekonomiese patrone wat gevolg word en beleidskeuses wat deur staatselites gemaak word, van hierdie nuwe demokratiese staat, nodig. Die oorheersing van eksterne faktore oor die Suid-Afrikaanse beleidsmaking ten opsigte van sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkelings het in die studie na vore getree. 'n Analise van die vordering van die Suid-Afrikaanse makro-ekonomiese beleid (GEAR), in die skepping van behoudbare ekonomiese groei en die skakeling daarvan met die plaaslike nosie (RDP dokument, 1994) van "mens-gebasseerde" ontwikkeling oor 'n periode van vyf jaar, het geopenbaar dat GEAR, wat voorgestel is as 'n ekonomiese en sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkelingsbeleid, terselfdetyd 'n eksterne georienteerde beleid is wat transnationale kapitalistiese belange promotiseer. Daar bestaan kontroduksie tussen die oogmerke van GEAR. Eerstens beoog GEAR die vernouing van die ontwikkelingsgaping in Suid-Afrika (deur die voorsienig van maatskaplike dienste, gesonheidsdienste, opvoeding, skoon water, elektrisiteit, vervoer en behuising) iets wat 'n verhoging van staatsuitgawes tot gevolg sal hê, terwyl GEAR se beleid sulke verhoogde uitgawes aan bande lê. Dit is voor die handliggend dat die Noord-Suid magsverhouding eensydig is, en problematies is vir ontwikkeling en moet dus nie toegelaat word om voortgesit te word nie. Verder moet onderontwikkelende lande voortdurend 'n aktiewe rol speel in globale strukture soos die UNCTAD, die WHO, die VN en ander internasionale institusies as hulle enigsins 'n impak op die beleid wat die Noord-Suid verhoudinge beheer, wil maak.

After the Cold war, most African countries have strived to be democratic States by accommodating the idea of liberal democracy. Although these countries adopt this kind of system of governance, most of them do not adhere to the tenets which this type of democracy ascribes. The political systems in most African countries are organised and based on what is referred to as politics of identity. This is where the set up of political institutions is based on interest groups with an ethnic, religious or any peculiar identity configuration. The practice of identity politics based on ethnic, religious or merely any identity, leads to exclusion of some segmental groups from the governance system in most African countries.
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2011.
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/
nf2012
Centre for Human Rights
LLM

The essay aims to analyze and understand the policy decisions taken by the Americans during their tenure as occupying force from 2003-2004. By understanding what policy was enacted it is possible to judge how it impacted things down the line. Using democratization theory, it becomes possible to categorize a large amount of policy during that time. Meaning there can be a large-scale analysis of the policies and judge if they pushed democracy forward in Iraq. The two research questions are how the US planned to turn Iraq into a democracy and if the policy covered all the five arenas of democratization. After analyzing the material through the five arenas, the two research questions are answered. The US planned for the wrong things and only in Iraq did their plan crystalize. It involved focusing on changes in society that benefitted democracy, but with a top down approach. The policies covered all five arenas of democratisation meaning they were widely applied and pushed democracy in Iraq. The US intended to turn Iraq into a democracy and the policy employed during their tenure supports that goal.

The one-China issue before the 1990s was not particularly complex as both sides of the Taiwan Strait claimed that there was only one China in the world and Taiwan was part of China. Nevertheless, after Taiwan accelerated democratisation in the early 1990s, and especially after 1996 when it entered a stage of democratic consolidation, the one-China issue has become a bitter controversy. Taiwan was transformed from an authoritarian regime to a democracy through the revision of the constitution and the reform of elections for the Legislative Yüan and the presidency between 1991 and 1996. Democratisation not only legitimised the government�s rule on Taiwan, but also brought about Taiwanese nationalism, which forced the government to defend the sovereignty to which its democratic and economic achievements now entitled it. As the PRC has always claimed sovereignty over Taiwan, the one-China controversy has thus focused on Taiwan�s international status since the 1990s. In order to prevent Taiwan from declaring independence, the PRC adopted a carrot and stick strategy, but failed. Its "peaceful reunification" policy and the "one country, two systems" formula could not attract the Taiwanese, and its military threats were blocked by the US, which has strongly demanded a peaceful resolution for cross-Strait disputes since 1979. As the US also needs the PRC�s cooperation in many international areas, it did not support Taiwan�s formal independence. Under such circumstances, maintaining the status quo of the Taiwan Strait becomes the best choice for the three sides. The one-China controversy is not expected to be resolved in the near future. Democracy has been promoted as a universal value since the Cold War. As Taiwan has not ruled out the possibility of future democratic unification with the Mainland, the best way to resolve the one-China controversy might be the successful democratisation of the PRC, which the international community would welcome.

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This study deals with the experience of the Acaraà Basin Committee, the process democratization of the Water Resources Management in Acaraà region bathed by the Acaraà River, in the State of CearÃ, Brazil. The deployment of Acaraà basin committee brought to the local community the opportunity to meet and discuss key aspects of the decentralization and democratization of the State Water Resources Policy Process, provided by laws that now govern the participatory management of water resources both at the state level as federal. Novel experience for most members of the committee makes room for new paradigms in defining the participatory management process to follow, since the decision making run of discussion and deliberation at meetings of the committee members on the basis of management tools. The empowerment and recognition of the Acaraà Basin Committee brings the perspective of consolidating space resolution of the State Policy for Water Resources in the region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the advances in water resources of the State of CearÃ, through the Basin Committees policy as an instrument of democratization of water resources in the river basin AcaraÃ. The paper is organized into five chapters. The Introduction deals with the statement of the problem, the scope of work and discusses how the document is organized. The Chapter 2 presents a literature review and legal bases; the Chapter 3 presents the methodology used for the study in question, and describes the Committee of River Basin AcaraÃ; the Chapter 4 presents the results of research; finally, chapter 5 presents conclusions of this research and makes some suggestions of complementary studies.
Este estudo trata da experiÃncia do Comità de Bacia do AcaraÃ, no processo de democratizaÃÃo da GestÃo dos Recursos HÃdricos na regiÃo banhada pelo Rio AcaraÃ, localizado no Estado do CearÃ, Brasil. A implantaÃÃo do comità da bacia do Acaraà trouxe à sociedade local a possibilidade de conhecer e discutir aspectos essenciais do processo de descentralizaÃÃo e democratizaÃÃo da PolÃtica Estadual dos Recursos HÃdricos, previstos nas leis que ora norteiam a gestÃo participativa dos recursos hÃdricos tanto a nÃvel estadual quanto federal. ExperiÃncia inovadora para a maioria dos membros do comità abre espaÃo para novos paradigmas na definiÃÃo do processo de gestÃo participativa a seguir, visto que as tomadas de decisÃo partem da discussÃo e deliberaÃÃo em reuniÃes dos membros do comitÃ, com base nos instrumentos de gestÃo. O fortalecimento e o reconhecimento do Comità de Bacia do Acaraà traz a perspectiva de consolidaÃÃo de espaÃo de deliberaÃÃo da PolÃtica Estadual dos Recursos HÃdricos na regiÃo. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os avanÃos em recursos hÃdricos do Estado do CearÃ, atravÃs da polÃtica de ComitÃs de Bacia como instrumento de democratizaÃÃo dos recursos hÃdricos na bacia do Rio AcaraÃ. O trabalho està organizado em cinco capÃtulos. A IntroduÃÃo trata da formulaÃÃo do problema, do escopo do trabalho e discorre sobre a maneira como o documento foi organizado. O Capitulo 2 apresenta uma revisÃo bibliogrÃfica e bases legais; o Capitulo 3 apresenta a metodologia utilizada para o estudo em questÃo, e descreve o Comità da Bacia HidrogrÃfica do Rio AcaraÃ; o Capitulo 4 apresenta os resultados da pesquisa; e finalmente, o capitulo 5 apresenta as consideraÃÃes finais desta pesquisa e faz algumas sugestÃes de estudos complementares.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the late 1940s, South Africa and South Korea were ruled by authoritarian governments, which oppressed the people’s freedom and rights. The governments created the deeply divided societies that resulted in racism in South Africa and regionalism in South Korea. These similarities may have played a major role in allowing Nelson Mandela and Kim Dae-jung to develop strong emotional bonds with their followers and to articulate their visions for the future. The two leaders, Nelson Mandela and Kim Dae-jung, fought for freedom and human rights against the apartheid government in South Africa and military dictatorial government in South Korea. During these processes of democratisation, the two leaders displayed common transformational and social learning leadership styles and presented their visions of the end of the authoritarian regimes and the establishment of democracy; shared these visions with the people and encouraged and mobilised them in struggling together against authoritarian government. Subsequently, the two leaders’ transformational and social learning leadership styles provide a successful role model to countries in which there are conflicts between the constituents of the society, as in East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East; a desire for transformation towards democracy by the people, and where countries are confronted with new challenges.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Beide Suid-Afrika en Suid-Korea was sedert die laat 1940’s onder die bewind van outoritêre regerings met gepaardgaande onderdrukking van die mense se vryhede en regte. Dié regerings het diep-verdeelde gemeenskappe daar gestel wat in Suid-Afrika op rassisme en in Suid-Korea op regionalisme uitgeloop het. Hierdie ooreenkomste mag grootliks daartoe bygedra het dat beide Nelosn Mandela en Kim Dae-jung sterk emosionele verbintenisse met hul volgelinge kon ontwikkel en hul toekomsvisies kon artikuleer. Die twee leiers, Nelson Mandela en Kim Dae-jung, het onderskeidelik teen die apartheidsregering in Suid-Afrika en die militêre diktatuur in Suid-Korea geveg vir vryheid en menseregte. Gedurende hierdie demokratiseringsprosesse het die twee leiers gemeenskaplike transformasie en sosiale leer leierskapstyle openbaar, hulle visies oor die beëindiging van outoritêre regimes en die vestiging van demokrasie bekend gemaak en die mense aangemoedig tot en gemobiliseer vir strydvoering teen die outoritêre regerings. Gevolglik verskaf hierdie twee leiers se transformasie en sosiale leer leierskapstyle ‘n geslaagde rolmodel vir alle lande waar daar konflik binne gemeenskappe bestaan, soos in Oos-Asië, Suid-Sahara Afrika asook die Midde-Ooste; lande waar die mense smag na transformasie tot demokrasie en lande wat hulleself met nuwe uitdagings gekonfronteer vind.

Cette recherché a pour objectif d’analyser le rôle d’internet au Pakistan et plus particulièrement son rôle dans l’émergence de la société civile pakistanaise. L’émergence de cette société civile peut-être vue comme un des facteurs de la politisation et de la démocratisation de la société. La société pakistanaise a besoin d’être éduquée, guidée afin que les principes démocratiques soient mieux connus, plus réels et que le pays s’engage plus fermement dans la voie démocratique. L’intelligentsia est engagée dans ce travail depuis longtemps, utilisant les moyens traditionnels de la communication de masse la presse, la radio et la télévision mais la société civile ne peut se réduire aux élites et notamment aux intellectuels, les autres catégories sociales doivent participer au processus, notamment la classe moyenne. Une des conditions de la démocratisation de la société nous semble devoir passer par un élargissement de la société civile, afin de combler l’écart entre les élites et les catégories les plus modestes de la population. Il faut garder à l’esprit que le Pakistan est gouverné depuis sa création d’une manière oligarchique par les militaires même si quelques gouvernement civils animés par des partis politiques ont aussi existé. Mais peu d’études ont été consacrées à la société civile pakistanaise, les études existantes se sont souvent focalisées sur les questions économiques ou sur la chronologie mouvementée de l’histoire politique du Pakistan. Le rôle des médias au sein de la société civile n’a pas non plus donné lieu à des études. C’est pourquoi nous nous sommes intéressés dans cette thèse à l’émergence de la société civile, à ses liens avec la vie politique et le rôle joué par internet dans la politisation de la société pakistanaise. La situation du Pakistan est sensiblement différente de celles des pays arabes qui viennent juste de connaître le « printemps arabe ». Le Pakistan est un de ces nouveaux pays nés de l’effondrement de l’empire colonial britannique, né après un long combat mené par les leaders politiques pakistanais. Sa première constitution a été élaborée 9 ans après l’indépendance et les premières élections démocratiques ont leu lieu. Il a alors connu 4 coups d’Etat dont le dernier a pris fin en 2008 avec les élections de février et l’abdication du régime militaire en août. En dépit de ces obstacles dans le processus démocratique, le pays s’est toujours mobilisé contre les dictateurs, même si les dictateurs ont cherché à légitimer leur pouvoir en s’appuyant sur des référendums et en cherchant le soutien de la Cour suprême. Depuis sa création, le Pakistan a néanmoins des valeurs et une culture démocratiques à la différence de certains pays du printemps arabes qui n’avaient pas de constitution démocratique, qui ont été gouvernés pas des dictatures ou des régimes monarchiques sans interruption. Au Pakistan, la lutte en faveur de la démocratie n’est pas nouvelle, la société a été familiarisée avec une constitution démocratique, ce qui rend la notion de société civile différente de celles de bon nombre de pays arabes
In this thesis, the first study of its kind, the role of internet specially that of social networking shared devices on web 2.0 is analyzed in the process of emergence of Public Sphere – the notion introduced by Habermas, and ultimately in the process of democratization of civil society in Pakistan. Lawyers’ Movement (March 2007 – March 2009) of Pakistan is selected to analyze this role as this successful movement for the rule of law in the country is solely responsible for a fundamental democratic change in the democratic culture and socio-political set up of Pakistan by bringing a vibrant and active civil society in the lime light of country’s political and social life.The content in Pakistani press and social communication content in blogs on blog sites during the course of and related to Lawyers’ Movement are analyzed using the technique of content analysis as defined by Lasswell Harold, focusing mainly on the content of communication (said what?) for a qualitative as well as quantitative analysis.The fundamental questions of the emergence of Public Sphere with the help of internet found to be true as it enhances the circle and forum of national public debate to the ones who had not been able to take part in it at the same level via the traditional means of mass communication, confirming the concept of Enhanced Public Sphere with the advent of internet presented by Cardon and also the concept of more participative democracy by Oberdorff by providing a platform to the educated middle class for voicing their opinion and ultimately filling the gap between the common people and intelligentsia of the society and taking active part in democratization of the society. The subsequent findings of the study reveal that there exists a freedom of expression not only on the internet but in the Pakistani press as well, that there is a link between the discussion in the press and in blogs and this discussion is concurrent, that internet has not yet presented itself as an alternate and better source for the flow of information confirming the criticism of Breton on the cult of internet and that the internet is instead behaving as complementary to the traditional media

How can democratisation best be pursued and promoted in the existing global system? Most proposals to ameliorate the global democratic deficit are conceptualised as ideal end-points which should be approximated as closely as possible. However, because there is an ineliminable gap between ideal conception and non-ideal institutionalisation, designers should redirect focus toward the transformative pathway. Institutional designers and policymakers thus require foreknowledge about how institutions may evolve through time. I contend that historical institutionalism - well-placed as it is to incorporate rationalist and sociological insights - can be recalibrated to think through these future pathways. I argue that the structure, sequence, and setting of a proposal all shed light on how institutions may change and the wider effects design might entail. The task for institutional designers then is to determine whether a transformative pathway can feasibly promote democratic values. I reconceptualise global democracy as an on-going process of democratisation promoted by the attainment of three values: equal participation, accountability, and institutional revisability. The thesis engages in comparative analysis of three ideal-typical proposals for global democratisation: federalism (world government), cosmopolitan democracy (piecemeal constitutionalism), and democratic polycentrism (global civil society). Having analysed these approaches, I argue that federalist models -which seek to replicate familiar statist institutions at the global level - would have difficulty inducing the democratising effects sought by proponents. Similarly, cosmopolitan democratic institutions would likely limit future experimentation through path-dependent feedback. While the deliberative base of global civil society offers a more fruitful way to think about global democratisation, it is difficult to envisage how this approach meets a fundamental equality condition of democratic participation. Building on the comparative analysis, I contend that regime complexes are the appropriate unit of democratisation beyond the state. Because each issue area in world politics is different, we require tailor-made (as opposed to one-size-fits-all) solutions. Through a discussion of the intellectual property rights regime complex, I contend that democratisation can be sought on two planes: horizontal deliberative accountability within multilateral negotiations; and the vertical development of deliberative democratic experimentalism. I apply my historical-institutionalist framework to expound both normative and institutional benefits of this prescription.

Democratization in Southeast Asia has long been of scholarly interests, particularly following the Third Wave, which saw the democratization of the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as the political liberalization of Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia. However, excitements over democracy were soon overshadowed by creeping doubts over their survivability. By the 2000s, democratization has either decelerated or regressed in some of the region’s most strategic countries, most notably Thailand and the Philippines. As ASEAN is on the verge of liberalization, this poses negative implications to the organization as well. This paper seeks to identify common variables that threaten democratic institutions in Southeast Asia. Scholars of Southeast Asia have proposed numerous variables that threaten the region’s young democracies, ranging from the system of government to geographic attributes. This paper will not attempt to identify a new variable. Rather, it will assess the three dominant approaches in the study of democratic survival in the region – socioeconomic, structural, and ethnic and cultural – in order to identify what common challenges threaten Southeast Asia’s democratic institutions. In order to do so, this paper will also adopt a unique approach to the topic by primarily focusing on the period between 2000 and 2010, which has seen the beginning of the gradual decline of democratic progression in many parts of Southeast Asia. Rather than conduct a region-wide study, it will primarily focus on three of the region’s biggest democracies: Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. By adopting this nuanced approach to the study of democratic survival in Southeast Asia, this paper has uncovered that the biggest factors that contribute to the gradual deceleration or regression of the democratization process were unstable elite relations and a power struggle between members of the elite, at large, and the middle class. The variety of variables that shape this power balance determine the life length and stability of democratic institutions. This paper’s primary contribution to the literature is its unique approach to the study of democratic survival. By focusing on the period between 2000 and 2010, it has managed to find evidence for the structuralist and cultural arguments that actors, political culture, and ethnic conflict shape the democratization process. But it has also managed to disprove the dominant socioeconomic approach that argue that socioeconomic factors pose significant risks to the democratization process in the region. With this primary contribution, this paper also hopes to add on to further discussions on the impact of structural actors of the region’s young democracies on the future of ASEAN as a whole.

A research report submitted to the School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Degree of Master of Arts in International Relations by coursework and research report.
In the early 1990s, issues of democracy, good governance, security and human rights became more prominent in the international system and attained space in various policy documents. The period has been characterized by massive waves of transitions from one-party to multi-party political systems, which can be described as global democratic revolutions. Such democratic revolutions or movement towards democracy was not confined to one territory; rather it was a worldwide phenomenon that reached many parts of the world such as Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It involved radical political transitions due to pressure to promote political liberalization and foster democratic reforms in most of these countries. The push for democratization was led by various democratic actors such as the European Union, United States of America, Britain, Norway, Canada and institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank among others. The waves and calls for democratization by these actors have resulted in various democratic transition outcomes in which some of the recipient countries of external democratic support are left stuck in the process while some of them have completely failed and reverted back to authoritarian or oppressive regimes. Countries that have failed in the democratization process experience various consequences such as limited access to the media, fragmented opposition political parties, fraudulent electoral activities, violence and poor citizen participation. These shortfalls reflect gaps or inconsistencies in the outcomes of the democratization process that needs to be investigated. This study looks at the factors causing inconsistencies in the outcomes of the process.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2009.
"Department of History University of Canterbury" Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-216). Also available via the World Wide Web.

This thesis explores the manner in which political-economic forces born of democratisation have shaped media developments in Zambia, affected the welfare of journalists and the viability of the state owned press epitomised by the Times Newspapers. The aim is to inform the privatisation policy discourse. Using a political economy analysis, the thesis unveils the historical intimacy between nationalist administrations and multinational business elites and how these forces - often working in collusion - influenced patterns of media ownership, inhibited labour rights and controlled communicative activity – indicative of how the state and markets can constrain freedom of expression and association, despite democratisation. The thesis contends that the uncertainty of neo-patrimonial conditions that characterised the post colonial era has not dissipated to a great extent and continues to undermine media and institutional reform in today’s liberally inclined Zambia. Pervasive clientelism has also compromised popular perceptions of state media systems, subverting competitiveness and the propagandist function of the Times Newspapers in the liberalised market, a point empirically illustrated through the analysis of market and public opinion data.
Communication Science
D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

This research, has relevance in the wake of dwindling aid channelled to the third world rural poor. This study has explored ways of breaking away from benevolence and economism. The research explores four objectives that are focussed on scanning the boundary, in terms of challenges and possible solutions. This provides some in-depth understanding of challenges that face the process of establishing self-sustaining institutions of development. In the last two objectives, the research explores some programming alternatives that would enhance the establishment of democratic and participatory organisations that maximise social capital and grassroots democratisation. A list of guidelines specific to institutions has been drawn. The results of the survey reveal that sustainability cannot be predicted due to the uncertainties and ambiguities associated with project success. The hypothesis that participation and grassroots democratisation facilitates project success has been validated and there was greater project success in participatory organisations, given the baseline context.
Development Studies
M.A. (Development Studies)