Showing papers in "Democratization in 2014"
TL;DR: This paper analyzed the expansion of social welfare protection by focusing on health care in Indonesia and found the origins of policy shift in the incentives that democracy creates for elites to design policies that appeal to broad social constituencies, and in widening scope for engag...
Abstract: Analyses of Indonesian democracy often emphasize elite capture of democratic institutions, continuity in oligarchic power relations, and exclusion of popular interests. Defying such analyses, over the last decade, Indonesia has experienced a proliferation of social welfare programmes, some with a redistributive element. This article analyses the expansion of social welfare protection by focusing on health care. At the national level, Indonesia has introduced programmes providing free health care to the poor and approved a plan for universal social insurance. At the subnational level, in the context of far-reaching decentralization reforms, politicians have competed with each other to introduce generous local health care schemes. Taking its cue from analyses of social welfare expansion in other East Asian states, the article finds the origins of policy shift in the incentives that democracy creates for elites to design policies that appeal to broad social constituencies, and in the widening scope for engag...
131 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined how presidents build legislative coalitions in different regional contexts, and found that presidents typically utilize more than one tool when they act; that the combinations of the five tools are combinations of...
Abstract: The democratization literature has increased our understanding of the role of institutional variables in the study of democratic sustainability. Debates about the dangers of presidentialism have been central to this body of research. In more recent times the presidentialism literature has focused on the capacity of presidents to overcome the conflict-inducing nature of the separation of powers through successful coalition formation. This review article moves this research agenda forward by examining how presidents build legislative coalitions in different regional contexts. Based on the extant analysis of presidential systems in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Union, the article develops the idea that presidents use a toolbox of five key tools when constructing legislative coalitions: agenda power, budgetary authority, cabinet management, partisan powers, and informal institutions. We find that presidents typically utilize more than one tool when they act; that the combinations of ...
128 citations
TL;DR: In 2010, Myanmar (Burma) held its first elections after 22 years of direct military rule as discussed by the authors, and few compelling explanations for this regime transition have emerged, and they return instead to the classical literature on military intervention and withdrawal.
Abstract: In 2010, Myanmar (Burma) held its first elections after 22 years of direct military rule. Few compelling explanations for this regime transition have emerged. This article critiques popular accounts and potential explanations generated by theories of authoritarian “regime breakdown” and “regime maintenance”. It returns instead to the classical literature on military intervention and withdrawal. Military regimes, when not terminated by internal factionalism or external unrest, typically liberalize once they feel they have sufficiently addressed the crises that prompted their seizure of power. This was the case in Myanmar. The military intervened for fear that political unrest and ethnic-minority separatist insurgencies would destroy Myanmar's always-fragile territorial integrity and sovereignty. Far from suddenly liberalizing in 2010, the regime sought to create a “disciplined democracy” to safeguard its preferred social and political order twice before, but was thwarted by societal opposition. Its success...
95 citations
TL;DR: The distinction between liberal and corporate forms of consociationalism, alternatively premised on the self-determination or predetermination of the ethnic groups involved in power-sharing, is discussed in this article.
Abstract: Consociationalism is often proposed for societies deeply divided along ethnic lines, yet its recommendation remains contentious. Critics argue that it has a low rate of adoption, results in political immobilism, and entrenches the divisions it seeks to alleviate. Overlooked in much of the criticism, however, is the distinction between liberal and corporate forms of consociationalism, alternatively premised on the self-determination or predetermination of the ethnic groups involved in power-sharing. The article considers whether the critiques apply equally to both versions. Corporate consociation freezes a particular inter-group configuration in time, leading to drawn-out executive formation and, in some cases, to a cementing of divisions. However, liberal consociation runs into its own difficulties: consociational settlements are generally negotiated at the very point at which group identities are most politically salient and divisive. Under these conditions, groups are unlikely to settle for anything oth...
85 citations
TL;DR: The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes: Managing Dissent in Post-Communist Russia as discussed by the authors is a research volume that deals with the problem of managing protest in hybrid regimes.
Abstract: The Politics of Protest in Hybrid Regimes: Managing Dissent in Post-Communist Russia is a research volume. There are perhaps just a few works of its kind. Most works on this topic are scholarly, in...
83 citations
TL;DR: A growing body of subnational comparative research on democracy has focused attention on ‘subnational authoritarianism' as mentioned in this paper, in tandem with increasing interest in local politics across the developing world.
Abstract: A growing body of subnational comparative research on democracy has focused attention on ‘subnational authoritarianism’, in tandem with increasing interest in local politics across the developing world. Unsurprisingly, this evolving field of study has been characterized by a diversity – if not a dichotomy – of approaches, with quantitative and qualitative research proceeding along parallel and sometimes intersecting tracks. But scholars working in diverse contexts and with diverging approaches have begun to converge on a set of explanations for the patterns of variance observed in subnational authoritarianism within and across national settings. Drawing on studies of Russia, the United States, southern Italy, Argentina and West Africa, this article shows how scholarship has identified the underlying economic foundations of subnational authoritarianism. Combining the findings of recent qualitative and quantitative studies with the author's own research in the Philippines, this article spells out a set of h...
74 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the effect of elections will likely depend on the capacities of the authoritarian regime in which they take place, and that elections are more likely to stabilize authoritarian regimes endowed with high levels of state capacity.
Abstract: A “paradox of authoritarian elections” prevails: While some researchers emphasize the stabilizing effect of authoritarian multi-party elections, others point to their potential for regime subversion. I argue that the effect of elections will likely depend on the capacities of the authoritarian regime in which they take place. In particular, state capacity may influence the relationship between authoritarian elections and regime stability. Autocrats presiding over a highly capable state may abuse the bureaucracy to subtly manipulate voters and the electoral framework. And a strong coercive apparatus serves to prevent opposition mobilization and post-electoral protests. Thus, elections are more likely to stabilize authoritarian regimes endowed with high levels of state capacity. Where state capacity is low, elections are more likely to spin out of control, or the regime may be forced to turn to more blatant forms of fraud or large-scale violence, which tend to cause regime destabilization. The proposed rela...
63 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a general theoretical framework was developed to better explain the moderation of religious and secular politics and democratization in Turkey, based on a within-case comparative analysis of Turkish democratization since the 1920s and data on elite values.
Abstract: Based on a within-case comparative analysis of Turkish democratization since the 1920s and data on elite values, this article develops a general theoretical framework to better explain the moderation of religious and secular politics and democratization. First, it is maintained that the content of moderation and its effects on democracy will vary across countries depending on its domestic and international context – called a country's “centre” – and political rivals’ reactions. Second, moderation can further democratization only insofar as it happens with a democratic centre. Third, absent a democratic centre, moderation may involve adoption, retention and reproduction of the centre's undemocratic attributes. In such cases, the challenge of democratization is not moderation per se but the construction of a new, democratic centre by transcending the existing centre. Fourth, moderation is interactive between religious and secular actors, multidimensional and reversible. Turkish democratization began with th...
60 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that electoral uncertainty caused by a low level of party institutionalization has been an important obstacle to democratization by alternation in the African context and proposed an approach in which opposition victories may be used as an independent variable that, under certain circumstances, could promote democratization.
Abstract: This study criticizes approaches equating opposition electoral victories with democratization in competitive authoritarian regimes. Not only are these approaches theoretically problematic, but there are also important empirical reasons to distinguish between electoral turnovers and democratization. The study goes on to explain why some African turnovers have been successful in bringing about democratization while others have not. This study promotes an approach in which opposition victories may be used as an independent variable that, under certain circumstances, could promote democratization. Using evidence from the cases of Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya, it is argued that electoral uncertainty caused by a low level of party institutionalization has been an important obstacle to democratization by alternation in the African context.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors formulate propositions about the relationship between each of these different aspects of state capacity and political regime stability, and then subject these propositions to empirical assessment through cross-national, statistical analysis.
Abstract: Two recent strands of research have proposed that state capacity facilitates autocratic and democratic survival, respectively. While convincing arguments sustain each of these expectations, prior research has neglected a crucial distinction with respect to state capacity: that between monopoly on violence and administrative effectiveness. In this article, we first formulate propositions about the relationship between each of these different aspects of state capacity and political regime stability. We then subject these propositions to empirical assessment through cross-national, statistical analysis. Our findings show that state capacity does indeed tend to enhance regime stability in both autocracies and democracies. Yet, the analyses also reveal that what primarily matters in autocracies is the monopoly on violence whereas administrative effectiveness is what stabilizes democracies. Finally, we discuss alternative interpretations of the patterns and conclude that our results go a long way toward making ...
49 citations
TL;DR: The development and growth of citizenship in industrialized societies, especially Britain, has been, for several decades, considered a "Citizenship and Social Class" as discussed by the authors, where the authors chronicled the development of citizenship and social class.
Abstract: Marshall's “Citizenship and Social Class”, where he chronicled the development and growth of citizenship in industrialized societies, especially Britain, has been, for several decades, considered a...
TL;DR: In Thailand, economic inequality has long been a fact of life and political inequality has not always been associated with political activism, however, following the 2006 military coup, there has been a deliberate and politicized linking of inequality and politics.
Abstract: In Thailand, economic inequality has long been a fact of life. It is a “general inequality of condition” that can be seen to influence all aspects of social, economic, and political life. Yet inequality has not always been associated with political activism. Following the 2006 military coup, however, there has been a deliberate and politicized linking of inequality and politics. The article explores a complex of political events – elections, coup, constitution, and the political ascent of Thaksin Shinawatra – that has given rise to a relatively recent politicization of economic and political inequalities, now invoked in street politics – a rhetoric developed amongst pro-Thaksin red shirts that challenged the status quo and generates conflict over the nature of electoral democracy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the links between democracy and the state, considered as a political centre that (1) has the monopoly of violence within a territory, (2) rules over a population that shares a sense of nationhood, and (3) delivers public goods other than political order.
Abstract: This article addresses the links between democracy, understood in minimal procedural terms, and the state, considered as a political centre that (1) has the monopoly of violence within a territory, (2) rules over a population that shares a sense of nationhood, and (3) delivers public goods other than political order. It considers two perspectives on these state-democracy links: one that holds that, to ensure successful democratization and enduring democracy, the construction of a state must be completed before steps are taken to install democracy; another that posits that state construction can be confronted in the course of democratization or through democracy. The article concludes that variants of the proposition “no state, no democracy”, when understood as involving explanatory relationships, have validity, but are only partially true, frequently one-sided – ignoring how democracy affects state-related problems – and excessively pessimistic – overlooking how democracy can offer a solution to state-rel...
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of Tanzania and its ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) is presented, where distinct investments made under single-party rule into party institutionalization and the incorporation of subsistence-based peasants provided CCM with additional sources of elite cohesion, strong mobilization capacity, and therefore greater stability.
Abstract: Electoral authoritarianism has emerged as a primary mode of authoritarian rule in the post-Cold War era. It is also a notably heterogeneous phenomenon, in terms of both its impact upon incumbents and the quality of contestation. This article investigates a specific type of electoral authoritarian outcome, a competitive hegemony. In competitive hegemonies regimes are able to dominate elections by large vote margins, but with comparatively much lower levels of electoral fraud and coercion. Using a case study of Tanzania and its ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), this article argues that distinct investments made under single-party rule into party institutionalization and the incorporation of subsistence-based peasants provided CCM with additional sources of elite cohesion, strong mobilization capacity, and therefore greater stability. The article shows how during multiparty elections elite defection has in fact been minimal, and voting patterns largely coincide with infrastructural investments made as ...
TL;DR: In the post-authoritarian context, the military has preserved its expansive prerogatives by using a variety of adaptive contestation mechanisms that act as a continuing source of political instability and uncertainty as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Why do some militaries retain high authoritarian prerogatives during transitions from militarized authoritarian rule? The Pakistan military's 2007 extrication shows that an important part of the answer lies in the level of structural differentiation between the “military government” and the “military institution”. Despite sustained contentious opposition to military rule, the high level of separation between these two military dimensions of the state allowed the institutional military to delink itself from the discredited dictatorship and exit on its own terms. In the post-authoritarian context, the military has preserved its expansive prerogatives by using a variety of adaptive contestation mechanisms – including the mobilization of the media and the judiciary – that act as a continuing source of political instability and uncertainty.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors look at ways in which the state and liberal democracy interact in three areas: citizen security, patronage and clientelism, and the formation of national identity.
Abstract: The state, rule of law, and democratic accountability are the three basic components of a modern political order. The state concentrates and uses power, while law and democracy constrain the exercise of power, indicating that there is an inherent tension between them. This article looks at ways in which the state and liberal democracy interact in three areas: citizen security, patronage and clientelism, and the formation of national identity. In all three areas, state and democracy act at cross purposes in some domains, and are mutually supportive in others. The reason for this complex relationship is that both state and democracy are themselves complex collections of institutions which interact on a multiplicity of levels. Understanding the relationship between state and democracy is important in policy terms because many recent initiatives to improve the quality of governance assume that state quality and democracy are mutually supportive, something that is not fully supported by the empirical evidence.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors classify Africa's youth as belonging to two categories, those aged 18-24 and those aged 25-35, and find that key determinants of the youth's voting behavior include their access to political knowledge and information as well as their perceptions of the electoral context and party system.
Abstract: Why do young Africans participate less in elections than their older counterparts? Given Africa's growing youth bulge, this constituency represents a numerically important voting bloc, and their lower participation in elections could undermine the legitimacy of the region's democratic trajectory We address this question through a multi-level model that relies on individual-level data from the Afrobarometer surveys and country-level data for 19 of the region's more democratic countries We classify Africa's youth as belonging to two categories, those aged 18–24 and those aged 25–35 We find that key determinants of the youth's voting behaviour include their access to political knowledge and information as well as their perceptions of the electoral context and party system In the latter regard, the efficacy and fairness of elections and the degree of partisanship increase the youth's decision to vote, while the length of party incumbency is a deterrent to turnout These findings hold important implication
TL;DR: The authors identify variables affecting these states' prospects for democratic development by drawing lessons from the post-communist coloured revolutions of the early 2000s, when democratic forces had difficulty consolidating initial gains and suggest that choices available to political actors, in particular the ability of democratic opposition forces to maintain unity and support a common transition platform, and their success in removing old regime elites, will be crucial in the post Arab Spring environment.
Abstract: Nearly two years after removal of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak, Tunisia and Egypt are still in transition: gains made by early 2013 remain tenuous, and whether democracy takes root remains to be seen. This article identifies variables affecting these states' prospects for democratic development by drawing lessons from the post-communist coloured revolutions of the early 2000s, when democratic forces had difficulty consolidating initial gains. Based on these cases, we suggest that choices available to political actors, in particular the ability of democratic opposition forces to maintain unity and support a common transition platform, and their success in removing old regime elites, will be crucial in the post-Arab Spring environment. However, we also examine structural variables, including the nature of the ousted authoritarian regime and external leverage, which point to differences between the coloured revolutions and MENA uprisings and suggest limits to cross-regional comparison.
TL;DR: However, because these parties lack the agency to reproduce themselves, to entrench their position, and to play more than a supportive role in regime consolidation, the lifespan of such personalist dominant parties is likely to be significantly shorter than that of dominant parties.
Abstract: Vladimir Putin's United Russia and Nursultan Nazabayev's Nur Otan represent a distinctive type of dominant party due to their personalist nature and dependence on their presidential patrons. Such personalism deprives these parties of the agency to perform key roles in authoritarian reproduction typically expected of dominant parties, such as resource distribution, policy-making and mobilizing mass support for the regime. Instead United Russia and Nur Otan have contributed to authoritarian consolidation by securing the president's legislative agenda, stabilizing elites to ensure their patron's hold on power, and assisting in perpetuating a discourse around the national leader. However, because these parties lack the agency to reproduce themselves, to entrench their position, and to play more than a supportive role in regime consolidation, the lifespan of such personalist dominant parties is likely to be significantly shorter than that of dominant parties.
TL;DR: In this paper, a hypothesis for understanding democratic stability based on the distinction between politicized and meritocratic bureaucracies is presented. But the authors do not consider the role of political affiliations.
Abstract: This paper presents a hypothesis for understanding democratic stability based on the distinction between politicized and meritocratic bureaucracies We argue that in a politicized administration, the professional careers of large numbers of government officials depend directly upon which party wins the elections This increases the likelihood that the government will take opportunistic actions aimed at surviving in office at any cost; that is, benefiting core supporters at the expense of other groups In turn, this may foster pre-emptive actions from the opposition, such as military coups Conversely, in democracies with meritocratic administrations, incumbents are credibly constrained from undertaking partial policies because their hands are tied in terms of managing the staff policy of the state apparatus Consequently, countries with meritocratic bureaucracies have greater prospects for democratic stability Empirically, we illustrate the mechanisms with two well-documented cases of democratic transiti
TL;DR: In 2011, Singapore held its parliamentary general election and no one pretends that the opposition was given a fair chance as mentioned in this paper, but there was no doubt that the government would be returned with an overwhelming majority.
Abstract: In 2011 Singapore held its parliamentary general election. The ballot was not rigged and no candidates suffered physical intimidation, but there was no doubt that the government would be returned with an overwhelming majority and no one pretends that the opposition was given a fair chance. The regime has built a rationale and an infrastructure that legitimizes and perpetuates itself, and makes it difficult for an opposition to do more than survive. This article unpacks this rationale and the system it legitimizes. It argues that recent developments herald a significant set of changes to the dynamics of Singaporean politics and governance, but that these changes stop well short of any short or medium-term likelihood of democratic transformation. The Singapore experience suggests that an electorally legitimized authoritarian regime can perpetuate itself in the long term, provided it delivers public goods to the population and is assiduous in responding to complaints. It also suggests that a regime that has ...
TL;DR: The authors examined the relationship between infrastructural and coercive state capacity drawing on vario... and proposed to fill this gap by examining the relationship and relationship between these two types of state capacity.
Abstract: State power is usually defined as a concept encompassing two components: one is the infrastructural and administrative aspect of power; the other is the despotic or coercive power of the state. Hence, states can be strong in two different ways. Several scholars have emphasized the importance of infrastructural state capacity for democratization, and some even go so far as to suggest that infrastructural state capacity is a necessary condition for democracy. A different branch of literature has argued that coercive state capacity has been effective in sustaining autocracy and thwarting democratization. Despite mounting evidence supporting the roles of infrastructural and coercive state capacity to explain the emergence or the absence of democracy in various countries, no study to date has systematically considered the connection between these two types of state capacity. This article proposes to fill this gap by examining the relationship between infrastructural and coercive state capacity drawing on vario...
TL;DR: This article examined how immigrants who grew up under authoritarian rule come to adapt to democracy and found that immigrants from partly and non-democratic countries experience tensions in their adaptation to democracy, expressing strong democratic desires but also manifesting what could be interpreted as lasting imprints of their socialization under dictatorship.
Abstract: This article borrows from the literature on transitional democracies to examine levels of support for democracy and non-democratic alternatives among immigrants travelling from partly and non-democratic countries to Canada. It evaluates how immigrants who grew up under authoritarian rule come to adapt to democracy. The findings indicate that immigrants from partly and non-democratic countries experience tensions in their adaptation to democracy, expressing strong democratic desires but also manifesting what could be interpreted as lasting imprints of their socialization under authoritarian rule. Immigrants from partly and non-democratic countries exhibit strong support for democracy (they almost all believe it is a good form of government, the best one, and understand democracy in broadly similar terms as the rest of the population). Yet, if democracy is the main game in town for the immigrants, it is not the only one; immigrants from partly and non-democratic countries are significantly more likely than ...
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptual map that allows tracing emerging and proposed forms of citizenship within and beyond the nation state in a comprehensive and differentiated way is presented, which disentangles membership in a political community as the fundament of citizenship and the arena of political decision-making as the focal point of citizenship rights, identities and practices.
Abstract: In an age of transnational flows and interdependencies, democratic citizenship can no longer be conceptualized exclusively within national boundaries. This paper presents a conceptual map that allows tracing emerging and proposed forms of citizenship within and beyond the nation state in a comprehensive and differentiated way. We disentangle two anchor points: membership in a political community as the fundament of citizenship and the arena of political decision-making as the focal point of citizenship rights, identities and practices. For the former we differentiate between a single national community, the universal community of humankind and multiple (national) communities. For the latter we distinguish the national, supra-national and transnational arena. Our typology thus consists of nine different forms of democratic citizenship. It is used to provide a brief overview over normative proposals and empirical findings leading to the following insights: while membership in a particular national community...
TL;DR: The essential defining aspect of democracy is the existence of competitive and fair elections as mentioned in this paper, an element which emphasizes diversity of opinion and serves to place one party (or group of parties) in power, while relegating the other(s) to dissent.
Abstract: Modern democracy is based in dissent and diversity. The essential defining aspect of democracy is the existence of competitive and fair elections; an element which emphasizes diversity of opinion and serves to place one party (or group of parties) in power, while relegating the other(s) to dissent. The diversity inherent to democratic systems instills in a country's inhabitants an awareness of difference, which in turn propagates more tolerant individuals. In autocratic regimes, expression of diversity is restrained, being considered the basis of disorder and thereby detrimental to the state. In liberal democratic societies, freedom of expression and speech and a free media are widely accepted principles. Political parties and social groups in liberal democratic societies are therefore able to express varied and opposing opinions on societal concerns, and such opinions are broadcast to large swaths of the population. Exposure to such variety indicates to even the most inattentive of individuals that they ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors put to the test the hypothesis that a certain level of state capacity is needed to engage in effective electoral malpractice, using general and more specific indicators of electoral fraud.
Abstract: While effective state capacity can reasonably be considered a necessary condition for democratization, strong states do not automatically produce democratic regimes, nor do they guarantee their survival. Far from being sufficient conditions for democracy, strong or capable states are also thought to be indispensable for the maintenance of autocratic rule. The present article puts to the test the hypothesis that a certain level of state capacity is needed to engage in effective electoral malpractice, using general and more specific indicators of electoral fraud. This article proposes two opposing mechanisms through which state capacity can influence the quality of elections: through infrastructural state capacity and coercive state capacity. The article demonstrates that electoral fraud is more likely in countries where infrastructural state capacity is weak and that coercive state capacity plays a more ambiguous role than previously thought. The analyses also reveal that different factors are at work when...
TL;DR: The authors argue that framing of the past involves a repositioning of historical events in relation to the present and involves not simply a rewriting of the historical record but its re-presentation through discursive tropes.
Abstract: Dealing with violent pasts in post-conflict societies is especially problematic in ethnically divided societies where ideas about historical events are inextricably bound up with ideas about identity, community, and nation. In such cases “the past” often becomes a key issue on which to contest long-standing grievances and justify particularistic visions of the future. This article argues that, in conjunction with judicial procedures, post-conflict societies might best foster fragile settlement processes by fencing in or framing historical narratives about the past. This framing of the past involves a repositioning of historical events in relation to the present and involves not simply a rewriting of the historical record but its re-presentation through discursive tropes. While that process is intrinsic to ethnic mobilization, I argue that it can be counterproductive to cultivating peace and consolidating democracy. Alternatively, I argue (following Jacques Ranciere) that the recognition of framing process...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that South Africa's local government is overburdened with constitutional and legal requirements that it is not equipped to meet, and that large-scale non-performance both in terms of service delivery as well as a democratic deficit characterizes local government.
Abstract: The following article holds that the experiment with local government decentralization in South Africa has failed. We argue that South Africa's local government is overburdened with constitutional and legal requirements that it is not equipped to meet. Local government, in general, lacks the technical and administrative capacity to provide the services it is required to supply. Based on a sample of 37 municipalities, we argue that the system of decentralization is far too complex for under-capacitated municipalities to handle. As a result, large-scale non-performance both in terms of service delivery as well as a democratic deficit characterizes local government. These failures contributed to the emergence of widespread “service delivery” protests throughout the country.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine whether designing interim regimes to incorporate inclusive representation of all warring parties, constraints on executive power, and decentralized governance enhances the prospects of post-conflict democratization.
Abstract: Does the institutional design of interim governments influence post-conflict democratization? Based on the logic of political engineering we examine whether designing interim regimes to incorporate inclusive representation of all warring parties, constraints on executive power, and decentralized governance enhances the prospects of post-conflict democratization. By analysing 15 interim regimes between 1989 and 2006, we find that while inclusiveness is not associated with democratization, executive constraints and decentralization are. These results point to the importance of establishing institutions that diffuse political power and reduce the zero-sum character of the political contest during transition.