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Abstract
Liberal democratic governments may differ in both their kind and degree of democracy. However, the literature too often conflates this distinction, hindering our ability to understand what kinds of governing structures are more democratic. To clarify this issue, the article examines two prominent contemporary models of democracy: developmental liberal democracy (DLD) and protective liberal democracy (PLD). While the former takes a ‘thicker’ approach to governance than the latter, conventional wisdom holds that these systems differ only in kind rather than degree. The article tests this assumption through an empirical comparison of electoral, legislative, and information-regulating institutions in two representative cases: Sweden and the United States. The empirical findings lead us to the conclusion that developmental liberal democracies represent not only a different kind, but also a deeper degree of democracy than protective liberal democracies. The implications for democracy promotion appear substantial.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the helpful assistance, comments, and suggestions of the editors, anonymous referees, J.S. Maloy, Neha Navlakha, Erica Rosenfield, Bo Rothstein, Theresa Squatrito and PerOla Öberg.
Notes
Schmitter and Karl, ‘What Democracy Is … and Is Not’.
Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy.
Collier and Levitsky, ‘Democracy with Adjectives’, 435; O'Donnell, ‘Delegative Democracy’.
Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy, is a prominent exception.
Schmitter and Karl, ‘What Democracy Is…and Is Not’, 77.
Huber and Powell, ‘Congruence between Citizens and Policy-makers’.
Beetham, ‘Towards a Universal Framework’, 7.
Lijphart, Democracies.
Stepan, ‘Federalism and Democracy’.
Diamond and Morlino, ‘Introduction’, xl.
Beetham, ‘Towards a Universal Framework’, 6.
Diamond, ‘Thinking about Hybrid Regimes’.
Diamond and Morlino, ‘Introduction’, xviii.
Stepan, ‘Federalism and Democracy’; Diamond, ‘Thinking about Hybrid Regimes’; Schedler, ‘The Menu of Manipulation’.
Levitsky and Way, ‘Why Democracy Needs a Level Playing Field’.
Schedler, ‘The Menu of Manipulation’.
Heller, ‘Degrees of Democracy’.
Diamond and Morlino, ‘Introduction’.
Levine and Molina, Quality of Democracy in Latin America, 2.
Bollen and Paxton, ‘Subjective Measures of Liberal Democracy’; Foweraker and Krznaric, ‘Measuring Liberal Democratic Performance’.
Munck, Measuring Democracy.
Kurki, ‘Democracy and Conceptual Contestability’.
Held, Models of Democracy.
Collier and Levitsky, ‘Democracy with Adjectives’; Held, Models of Democracy.
Bollen and Paxton, ‘Subjective Measures of Liberal Democracy’.
Freedom House, ‘Freedom in the World 2010’.
Plattner, ‘Populism, Pluralism, and Liberal Democracy’, 84.
Collier and Levitsky, ‘Democracy with Adjectives’.
Holden, Understanding Liberal Democracy.
Meyer, The Theory of Social Democracy.
Held, Models of Democracy.
Meyer, The Theory of Social Democracy, 2. One common mistake in the literature has been to confuse social democracy with state socialism, but the latter refers to state ownership of the means of production while the former only implies public efforts to extend influence or control over production processes while simultaneously allowing private property ownership.
Ibid.
Held, Models of Democracy.
Ibid.
Ibid., 78.
Ibid.
Ibid., 60.
George, ‘Case Studies and Theory Development’; George and Bennett, Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences.
Eckstein, ‘Case Studies and Theory in Political Science’; Meyer, The Theory of Social Democracy; Gerring, Case Study Research.
Hall and Soskice, Varieties of Capitalism.
Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy.
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Meyer, The Theory of Social Democracy, 79; Hilson, The Nordic Model.
Berman, Primacy of Politics, 16; Esping-Andersen, ‘The Making of a Social Democratic Welfare State’; Rothstein, The Social Democratic State.
Håstad, Parliament of Sweden; Board, Government and Politics of Sweden.
Tilton, Political Theory of Swedish Social Democracy, 134.
Steinmo, Evolution of Modern States, 60.
Einhorn and Logue, Modern Welfare States, 328; Steinmo, Evolution of Modern States.
Esping-Andersen, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism; Pot, Employment Relations and National Culture; Meyer, The Theory of Social Democracy, 209.
Steinmo, Evolution of Modern States, 150.
Ibid., 164.
Lijphart, ‘Unequal Participation’.
Hill, 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy, 37.
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Schriner, Ochs, and Shields, ‘The Last Suffrage Movement’.
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Ibid.
Ibid.
Hill, 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
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International IDEA, ‘Voter Turnout Database’.
Gallup, ‘Americans Renew Call for Third Party’.
Ibid.
International IDEA, ‘Voter Turnout Database’.
Sartori, Parties and Party Systems; Cox, Making Votes Count; Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy.
Duverger, Political Parties.
Hill, 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
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Bowler, Donovan, and van Heerde, ‘The United States of America’, 194.
Ibid., 196.
U.S. Census Bureau, ‘2010 Statistical Abstract of the United States’.
Ibid.; Valmyndigheten, ‘Det svenska valsystemet’.
See for example Lijphart, Patterns of Democracy; Norris, Electoral Engineering; Gallagher, ‘Conclusion’.
Freidenvall, ‘Women's Political Representation and Gender Quotas’.
Bowler, Donovan, and van Heerde, ‘The United States of America’.
U.S. Census Bureau, ‘2010 Statistical Abstract of the United States’.
Steinmo, Evolution of Modern States, 193.
Huber and Powell, ‘Congruence between Citizens and Policy-makers’, 296.
Valmyndigheten, ‘Det svenska valsystemet’.
Office of the Inspector General, ‘A Review of the FBI's Investigations’.
Riksdagen, www.riksdagen.se.
Ibid.
Hill, 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy.
International IDEA, ‘Political Finance Database’.
Asp, ‘Rättvisa Nyhetsmedier’; Asp, ‘Fairness, Informativeness and Scrutiny’.
Larsson and Bäck, Governing and Governance in Sweden.
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Rendall and Butterworth, ‘How Public is Public Radio?’.
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Weibull, Jönsson, and Wadbring, ‘Media Landscape’.
Gustafsson, ‘The Market Consequences of Swedish Press Subsidies’, 12.
McKenzie, ‘Comparing the Financing of Media’, 11.
Riksdagen, www.riksdagen.se.
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Burnell, ‘International Democracy Promotion’; Wiarda, ‘Smarter Democracy Promotion’.
Hobson, ‘Limits of Liberal-Democracy Promotion’, 386; Azpuru et al., ‘Trends in Democracy Assistance’; Crawford, ‘EU Human Rights and Democracy Promotion’; van Cranenburgh, ‘Democracy Promotion in Africa’.
Lynch and Crawford, ‘Democratization in Africa’, 295.
Amirah-Fernández and Menéndez, ‘Reform in Comparative Perspective’, 327; Powel, ‘The Stability Syndrome’.
Burnell and Gerrits, ‘Promoting Party Politics in Emerging Democracies’; Bouchet, ‘Barack Obama's Democracy Promotion at Midterm’.
Youngs, ‘Trends in Democracy Assistance’.
Gershman and Allen, ‘The Assault on Democracy Assistance’; Burnell and Schlumberger, ‘Promoting Democracy – Promoting Autocracy?’.
Carothers, ‘Democracy Assistance’.
Hobson, ‘Limits of Liberal-Democracy Promotion’, 399.
Ibid.; Burnell, ‘International Democracy Promotion’.
Carothers, ‘Democracy Assistance’.
Finkel, ‘Can Democracy Be Taught?’.
Lovell, ‘Promoting Democracy’, 331.
Carothers, ‘Democracy Assistance’.
Fukuyama, State-Building.
Gerring and Thacker, A Centripetal Theory of Democratic Governance.
van Cranenburgh, ‘Democracy Promotion in Africa’; Nelson, Bad for Democracy; Linz, ‘Presidential or Parliamentary Democracy’.
Youngs, ‘Trends in Democracy Assistance’, 162.
Leissner, ‘Sweden's Policy on Democracy’, 9.
World Values Survey, ‘World Values Survey Data for 2005–2008’.
Ibid.