«Democracy, Law and Comparative Politics
O' Donnell Democratic Theory Study Questions
- Why is O'Donnell unhappy with existing definitions of democracy? (Minimalist definitions that are not so minimal, or definitions that are not realistic)
- What regime conditions must be present for that regime to be democratic?
- What must elections be like?
- What besides elections must be present?
- Which conditions are "stipulative" (i.e., true by definition) and which are inductively derived conditions probabilistically associated with the existence of fair elections? (and what does this mean?)
- What does this imply for the list of "political freedoms" that is often a part of definitions of democracy? Will it always be the same? Is it easy to distinguish between "political" freedoms (necessary for democracy) and "civil" freedoms (not necessary)?
- What does the concept of agency have to do with democracy?
- How is the social context related to the presence or absence of democracy?