RSI Global

01/31/2021

12/10/2020

Today is International Human Rights Day, as it was on this date in 1948 that the international community came together and passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages."

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nati...

12/01/2020

"It would be a grave mistake for the United States to give up any attempt to rescue the liberal order and instead reorient its grand strategy entirely toward great-power competition. The United States would be forfeiting its unique ideas and capacity for leadership. It would become like China and Russia: just another big, powerful state operating in a world of anarchy, nothing more and nothing less. But in its geography, history, institutions, and convictions, the United States is different from all other great powers. Unlike Asian and European states, it is an ocean away from other great powers. In the twentieth century, it alone among the great powers articulated a vision of an open, postimperial world system. More than any other state, it has seen its national interest advanced by promulgating multilateral rules and norms, which amplified and legitimized American power. Why throw all this away?

There simply is no other major state—rising, falling, or muddling through—that can galvanize the world around a vision of open, rules-based multilateral cooperation. China will be powerful, but it will tilt the world away from democratic values and the rule of law. The United States, for its part, needed the partnership of other liberal states even in earlier decades, when it was more capable. Now, as rival states grow more powerful, Washington needs these partnerships more than ever. If it continues to disengage from the world or engages in it only as a classic great power, the last vestiges of the liberal order will disappear.

And so it is left to the United States to lead the way in reclaiming the core premise of the liberal international project: building the international institutions and norms to protect societies from themselves, from one another, and from the violent storms of modernity. It is precisely at a moment of global crisis that great debates about world order open up and new possibilities emerge. This is such a moment, and the liberal democracies should regain their self-confidence and prepare for the future. As Virgil has Aeneas say to his shipwrecked companions, “Brace up, and save yourself for better times.”"

Instead of embracing great-power competition, the United States should double down on the liberal international project.

10/22/2020

The following figure represents the level of egalitarian democracy within the United States in the post-WWII era, through 2019. Egalitarian democracy is the fifth and final high level dimension of democracy assessed by the V-Dem project (after the Electoral, Liberal, Participatory, and Deliberative Democracy measures from my previous posts).

"The egalitarian principle of democracy holds that material and immaterial inequalities inhibit the exercise of formal rights and liberties, and diminish the ability of citizens from all social groups to participate. Egalitarian democracy is achieved when 1 rights and freedoms of individuals are protected equally across all social groups; 2 resources are distributed equally across all social groups; and 3 groups and individuals enjoy equal access to power. To make it a measure of egalitarian democracy, the index also takes the level of electoral democracy into account."

10/19/2020

The following figure represents the level of deliberative democracy within the United States in the post-WWII era, through 2019. Participatory democracy is the fourth high level dimension of democracy assessed by the V-Dem project (after the Electoral, Liberal, and Participatory Democracy measures from my previous posts).

"The deliberative principle of democracy focuses on the process by which decisions are reached in a polity. A deliberative process is one in which public reasoning focused on the common good motivates political decisions—as contrasted with emotional appeals, solidarity attachments, parochial interests, or coercion. According to this principle, democracy requires more than an aggregation of existing preferences. There should also be respectful dialogue at all levels—from preference formation to final decision—among informed and competent participants who are open to persuasion. To make it a measure of not only the deliberative principle but also of democracy, the index also takes the level of electoral democracy into account."

10/18/2020

The following figure represents the level of participatory democracy within the United States in the post-WWII era, through 2019. Participatory democracy is the third high level dimension of democracy assessed by the V-Dem project (after the Electoral and Liberal Democracy measures from my previous posts).

"The participatory principle of democracy emphasizes active participation by citizens in all political processes, electoral and non-electoral. It is motivated by uneasiness about a bedrock practice of electoral democracy: delegating authority to representatives. Thus, direct rule by citizens is preferred, wherever practicable. This model of democracy thus takes suffrage for granted, emphasizing engagement in civil society organizations, direct democracy,and subnational elected bodies. To make it a measure of participatory democracy, the index also takes the level of electoral democracy into account.

*Note that the range of values here are lower than previous posts, and even those lines range between different minimums and maximums.

10/17/2020

The following figure represents the level of liberal democracy within the United States in the post-WWII era, through 2019.
Liberal democracy is the second high level dimension of democracy assessed by the V-Dem project (after the Electoral Democracy measure from my last post).

"The liberal principle of democracy emphasizes the importance of protecting individual and minority rights against the tyranny of the state and the tyranny of the majority. The liberal model takes a "negative" view of political power insofar as it judges the quality of democracy by the limits placed on government. This is achieved by constitutionally protected civil liberties,strong rule of law, an independent judiciary, and effective checks and balances that, together,limit the exercise of executive power. To make this a measure of liberal democracy, the index also takes the level of electoral democracy into account."

10/16/2020

The following figure represents the level of electoral democracy within the United States in the post-WWII era, through 2019.

The V-Dem project (Varieties of Democracy) is based out of the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. It provides "a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond the simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian, and collects data to measure these principles."

The first of the high level dimensions of democracy is the degree of electoral democracy. "The electoral principle of democracy seeks to embody the core value of making rulers responsive to citizens, achieved through electoral competition for the electorate’s approval under circumstances when suffrage is extensive; political and civil society organizations can operate freely; elections are clean and not marred by fraud or systematic irregularities; and elections affect the composition of the chief executive of the country. In between elections,there is freedom of expression and an independent media capable of presenting alternative views on matters of political relevance. In the V-Dem conceptual scheme, electoral democracy is understood as an essential element of any other conception of representative democracy —liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, or some other."

09/18/2020

"V-Dem’s findings are bracing: The United States is undergoing “substantial autocratization” — defined as the loss of democratic traits — that has accelerated precipitously under President Trump. This is particularly alarming in light of what the group’s historic data show: Only 1 in 5 democracies that start down this path are able to reverse the damage before succumbing to full-blown autocracy."

Scholars who study how democracies die offer dire warnings about a second Trump term.

08/30/2020

"The pacifying element of political democracy on repression only works when citizens and political leaders believe that the relevant behavior is directed against "other citizens". If you can convince the part of the population that supports you that the coercive arm of the state is going to be directed against non-citizens (e.g., illegals and/or behavioral challengers/rebels/dissidents), then all bets are off – repressive behavior is not only allowed/allowable but political authorities can be benefitted electorally for adopting a position like this, either in office or while running for office. Here, repression pays - you get elected and from what things look like you attempt to get re-elected." ~ Christian Davenport

In the “ domestic democratic peace ”, it is generally maintained that democracies would be less inclined to engage in state repressive action (i.e., restrict freedom of speech, movement,...