Second Argumentative Research Essay
POL2DEM 2023
Second Argumentative Research Essay
WORD LENGTH: 1700 WORDS
Due Date: 11.59 5pm Monday 6 November 2023
Value: 40%
Make sure that you list on your cover page at least two ways that you have responded to feedback on his first essay in this subject.
You will be marked according to the following criteria:
1. Argumentation and writing: 50%.
Make sure that your argument is sustained throughout the essay. You should make a case in your essay, rather than simply telling a story. Keep your essay focused on the proposition. Discuss means discuss the validity of the proposition, not a series of tangential observations. Look carefully at the precise words of the proposition (which is to be the title of the essay), and make sure that your entire essay is a response to it. At the very least, your essay should have a clear statement in the opening paragraphs along the lines of: 'This essay argues that' followed by an assertion that relates clearly to the proposition, and that is substantiated in the rest of the essay.
At all costs, avoid digressions from the topic. Imagine, as you are writing, that you are trying to convince an extremely sceptical reader of your viewpoint. Try to show an awareness of possible contrary arguments, particularly in the opening.
An essay without a clear argument is extremely unlikely to get above a H3.
Make sure that each paragraph addresses a specific idea. Usually, this idea will be clearly set out in the opening sentence (the topic sentence).
2. Research: 50%
Research should include at least 10 academic sources such as articles from refereed journals and books. Short book reviews and commentary on websites may be useful, but will not count to this figure.
We also recommend that you verify factual claims with research using media sources (eg through databases like Factiva). Beware of outdated sources. This field is changing very rapidly.
The list of suggested issues that follows each proposition is intended as a starting point for your research and to give you a sense of the possibilities of the topic. It is not intended as a structure or as a comprehensive guide for your response. Do NOT use the topics as subheadings.
For every emerging democracy, Spains Pact of Forgetting is the perfect model for dealing with the legacy of authoritarianism. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
Raphael Escuderos analysis of the effects of the absence of transitional justice in Spain (Escudero, Rafael, 'Road to Impunity: The Absence of Transitional Justice Programs in Spain,' Human Rights Quarterly, 2014, Vol.36(1), pp.123-146)
Continuing tension in Spain about the legacy of Francoism: the debate over the Valley of the Fallen; and the use of death squads by the post-Franco democratically-elected government.
Sikkink and Wallings argument that human rights trials facilitate democratisation (Kathryn Sikkink and Carrie Booth Walling, (2007) 'The impact of human rights trials in Latin America,' Journal of Peace Research, Vol.44, No.4, pp.427-445)
Snyder and Vinjamuris argument about the importance of amnesties for democratic transitions (Jack Snyder, Leslie Vinjamuri, 'Trials and Errors. Principles and Pragmatism in Strategies of International Justice,' International Security, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Winter 2003/04), pp. 544)
Lustration has always harmed, not helped, transitions from totalitarianism to democracy. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
The argument that lustration is needed to restore social trust (See Cynthia M. Horne, Lustration, Transitional Justice, and Social Trust in Post-Communist Countries. Repairing or Wresting the Ties that Bind?, Europe-Asia Studies, (2014) 66:2)
The absence of lustration in post-Soviet Russia, where a former KGB officer constructed an authoritarian regime
The threat posed to democracy by networks of the old regime and by secret police files (see Kieran Williams, Lustration as the securitization of democracy in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, (2003) 19:4)
The destabilising effects of lustration in Iraq and Libya (on Iraq, see Roman David, 'From Prague to Baghdad: Lustration Systems and their Political Effects' Government and Opposition, Vol.41, No.3 (2006) pp.347-372
From Mali and Burkina Faso to Niger and Sudan, the crisis of democracy in Africa is being driven by Russias autocracy promotion. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
Russias support for military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan and the Central African Republic
Paul Stronskis report on Russias growing influence in the Sahel, https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/02/28/russia-s-growing-footprint-in-africa-s-sahel-region-pub-89135
Christine Hackeneschs study of the tension between Chinese diplomacy and Western democracy promotion. ('Not as bad as it seems: EU and US democracy promotion faces China in Africa,' Democratization, 22:3 (2015), 419-437)
Oisin Tanseys analysis of the notion of autocracy promotion (The Problem with Autocracy Promotion, Democratization, Vol.23/1, 2016, pp. 141-163.)
Isabella Curries MA thesis, Exporting Autocracy: Evgenii Prigozhin, the Wagner Group and the Putin Regime's Scramble for Africa
The coloured revolutions in ex-communist eastern Europe were Western-instigated elite coups that had nothing to do with democracy. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
David Lanes argument that Ukraines Orange Revolution was an elite coup. (David Lane, 'The Orange Revolution: Peoples Revolution or Revolutionary Coup? British Journal of Politics and International Relations, November 2008 VOL 10, 525549)
Mark Beissingers analysis of the coloured revolutions as modular political phenomena, which proliferated through the emulation of upheavals in neighboring states
Russian propaganda about the coloured revolutions as Western-instigated coups
Andrew Wilson's account of the Western contribution to Ukraines orange revolution (Andrew Wilson, 'Ukraine's Orange Revolution, NGOs and the Role of the West,' Cambridge Review of International Affairs, (March 2006), Vol.19(1), p.21-32)
International protectorates are crucial for the democratization of post-conflict societies. Discuss
Issues you might address include:
The failure of the post-conflict democratisation of Cambodia, Angola and Liberia
Knaus and Coxs critique of authoritarian state building in Bosnia and Kosovo (Gerald Knaus and Marcus Cox, Building Democracy after Conflict: The Helsinki Moment in Southeastern Europe, Journal of Democracy 16, no. 1 (January 2005)
Larry Diamond analysis of Promoting Democracy in Post-Conflict and Failed States: Lessons and Challenges, Taiwan Journal of Democracy, volume 2, no 2, 2006
The relative success of post-conflict democratisation in East Timor (Aurel Croissant The Perils and Promises of Democratization through United Nations Transitional Authority Lessons from Cambodia and East Timor, Democratization, (2008) 15:3, 649-668.)
Rapid democratisation and early elections are the key to the stabilization of post-conflict societies. Discuss
Issues you might address include:
Thomas Carotherss critique of the sequencing fallacy ('The "Sequencing" Fallacy,' Journal of Democracy, Volume 18, Number 1, January 2007, pp. 12-27)
Mansfield and Snyders analysis of the dangers of democratisation (Democratization and War. Foreign Affairs 74(May/June 1995):79-97)
Dawn Brancati and Jack Snyders argument about the danger of rushing to elections (Brancati, Dawn, & Snyder, Jack L. (2011) Rushing to the polls: The causes of premature post-conflict elections. Journal of Conflict Resolution, pp.469-492)
The failure of post-conflict democratisation in Angola (1992) and Liberia (1997)
Since the adoption of its democratic constitution of 1997, Thailands experience is irrefutable evidence that civil society is always a force for democratisation and liberal democracy. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
The ideas of Tocqueville, Putnam, and Gellner about the relationship of civil society to democratization (see lecture on civil society)
Janjira Sombatspoonsiri on the Thai military regimes mobilization of non-state actors (Authoritarian civil society': How anti-democracy activism shapes Thailand's autocracy. Journal of Civil Society, 16(4), (2020) pp.333350.)
Thorn Pitidols study of the role of the civil society network CODI in the breakdown of democracy and the popularization of authoritarian narratives in Thailand, Redefining Democratic Discourse in Thailand's Civil Society, Journal of contemporary Asia, 2016, Vol.46 (3), p.520-537
Sheri Bermans arguments about the dangers of civil society (Sheri Berman, Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic, World Politics, 49 (April 1997): 40129)
By imposing controls over NGOs, authoritarian regimes are safeguarding national cultures from destructive foreign influences. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
The arguments of Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban that NGO laws were necessary to curb foreign interference (see Douglas Rutzen, 'Civil society under assault,' Journal of Democracy, Vol.26, No.4 (October 2015), pp.28-39)
William Robinsons argument that US democracy promotion was directed at transforming civil society in target countries in order to create transnationally oriented, pro-US elites and to subordinate nationally-oriented elites (Robinson, William I., 'Promoting polyarchy: 20 years later,' International Relations, 06/2013, Vol.27(2), pp.228-234)
The targeting of human rights organisations that defend citizens against abuses of state power (Leah Gilbert (2016) 'Crowding Out Civil Society: State Management of Social Organisations in Putins Russia,' Europe-Asia Studies, 68:9, 1553-1578)
The relationship of anti-NGOs laws to political challenges faced by regimes (see, eg Timothy M. Gill (2017) Unpacking the world cultural toolkit in socialist Venezuela: national sovereignty, human rights and anti-NGO legislation, Third World Quarterly, 38:3, 629-30)
Military coups are the only way of saving democracy from authoritarian populists. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
The failed anti-populist military coups in Venezuela (2002) and Turkey (2022)
Baykan and Gursoys analysis of military coups against populist regimes (Baykan, Toygar Sinan; Grsoy, Yaprak; Ostiguy, Pierre, 'Anti-populist coups d'tat in the twenty-first century: reasons, dynamics and consequences,' Third world quarterly, 2021, Vol.42 (4), p.793-811)
The successful anti-populist strategies employed by the anti-Erdogan opposition in the 2019 Istanbul mayoral elections (see Wuthrich, Melvyn Ingleby J, 'The Pushback Against Populism: Running on "Radical Love" in Turkey F. Michael ournal of Democracy, Volume 31, Number 2, April 2020, pp. 24-40)
Hawkins argument that the most viable democratic strategy is a long-term one emphasizing patient efforts by the opposition to reorganize itself into a programmatic, pluralist option for the future (Kirk A Hawkins. Responding to Radical Populism: Chavismo in Venezuela, Democratisation, vol 23, number 3, 2016, pp. 242-262.)
Cultural relativism has become a weapon of authoritarian regimes against pro-democracy movements. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
Egyptian president General Sisis assertion that human rights in Egypt should not be viewed from a Western perspective ( http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/human-rights-egypt-western-perspective-president-sisi-a7014756.html)
Thai junta leader General Prayut Chan-o-chas claim to be upholding Thai-style democracy ( https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30336417)
Daniel Bells argument that the PRCs meritocracy, based on Confucian traditions, is superior to the flawed system of democracy. (The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy, (Princeton University Press, 2015)
Amartya Sens critique of cultural relativism. "Democracy as a Universal Value." Journal of Democracy, vol. 10 no. 3, 1999, pp. 3-17.
By drawing radicals into Indonesias political process, democratisation became an antidote to Islamist radicalism. Discuss.
Issues you might address include:
The academic debate around the inclusion moderation hypothesis (see additional reading week 11)
The evolution of Indonesias Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) as a demonstration of the moderating effects of inclusion (Buehler, Michael, 'Revisiting the inclusion-moderation thesis in the context of decentralized institutions: The behavior of Indonesias Prosperous Justice Party in national and local politics,' Party Politics, March 2013, Vol.19(2), pp.210-229)
The PKSs acceptance in 2008 of religious pluralism (Tomsa, Dirk, 'Moderating Islamism in Indonesia: Tracing Patterns of Party Change in the Prosperous Justice Party,' Political Research Quarterly, September 2012, Vol.65(3), pp.486-498)
The role of women in the transformation of the PKSs stance (Rofhani, Rofhani; Fuad, Ahmad Nur | Aspinall, Edward ; Savirani, Amalinda ; White, Sally, 'Moderating Anti-Feminism: Islamism and Women Candidates in the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS),' Journal of current Southeast Asian affairs, 2021, Vol.40 (1), p.156-17)
The Ahok controversy and the shift of Islamist radicalism from the political sphere to Indonesias civil society (see, eg Mohamed Nawab Mohamed Osman; Waikar, Prashant, 'Fear and Loathing: Uncivil Islamism and Indonesia's Anti-Ahok Movement,' Indonesia, No. 106, (Oct 2018): 89-109.)
A topic that has been approved in writing by the course coordinator.
Any proposal must relate to the course themes and academic content
