Democrats without Democracy?

Linkage and Socialization into Democratic Governance in Authoritarian Regimes.

 

We would like to invite you to the following additional Jour Fixe:

On Thursday, 14th May 2009, Tina Freyburg (ETH Zurich) will present results of her research on linkage and socialization processes fostering democratic governance in authoritar-ian regimes. Tina Freyburg is researcher at the European politics group of Frank Schimmelfennig at the Center for Comparative and International Studies in Zurich.

 

Time: Thursday, 14th May, 1.30 pm (13.30 Uhr)

Place: Ihnestraße 26, Room 202

 

Paper Abstract: "Democrats without Democracy? Linkage and Socialization into Democratic Governance in Authoritarian Regimes"

 

The linkage model of external democratization contends that strong ties of transition countries to established democracies decisively foster political transformation. Yet, the model has only been tested at the aggregate level of states and on transition countries already moving ahead with democracy. This paper takes a

different perspective by examining whether linkage to ‘the West’ may also transfer democratic rules and practices into Arab authoritarian regimes hitherto reluctant toward political liberalization. It aims at examining whether social and communication ties to established democracies can create important domestic stakeholders for democratic change by transforming state officials into democrats within a non-democratic polity. In order to directly examine attitude rather than infer it from behaviour, an original scale is developed that measures the degree of agreement with democratic norms of govern-ance. Empirically, the argument is tested on Morocco’s linkage to Europe using data from a unique survey among state officials. The results challenge the linkage models’ assumption that attitudes and preferences are shaped by exposure to norms.