Embedded democracy

Embedded democracy is a form of government in which democratic governance is secured by democratic partial regimes. The term 'embedded democracy' was coined by political scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Hans-Jürgen Puhle, and Aurel Croissant, who identified 'five interdependent partial regimes' necessary for an embedded democracy: electoral regime, political participation, civil rights, horizontal accountability, and the power of the elected representatives to govern. The five internal regimes work together to check the power of the government, while external regimes also help to secure and stabilize embedded democracies. Together, all the regimes ensure that an embedded democracy is guided by the three fundamental principles of freedom, equality, and control. Embedded democracy is a form of government in which democratic governance is secured by democratic partial regimes. The term 'embedded democracy' was coined by political scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Hans-Jürgen Puhle, and Aurel Croissant, who identified 'five interdependent partial regimes' necessary for an embedded democracy: electoral regime, political participation, civil rights, horizontal accountability, and the power of the elected representatives to govern. The five internal regimes work together to check the power of the government, while external regimes also help to secure and stabilize embedded democracies. Together, all the regimes ensure that an embedded democracy is guided by the three fundamental principles of freedom, equality, and control. The ideal embedded democracy is guided by the three fundamental democratic principles of freedom, equality, and control. Merkel uses Robert Dahl's definition of political equality, which includes equality 'before the law and in the political process.' While equality can infringe upon freedom, an embedded democracy should establish a balance between equality and freedom; to preserve the equality-freedom equilibrium, there must be checks on government power (horizontal and vertical accountability). Merkel writes about five different forms of internal embeddedness, with democratic electoral regime occupying the central position because 'it is the most obvious expression of the sovereignty of the people, the participation of citizens, and the equal weight allotted to their individual preferences.' Democratic electoral regime is the backbone of an embedded democracy because it differentiates between authoritarian regimes and democratic regimes. For a democratic regime, equal political rights are a requirement, and 'the citizens of the state should be included' in the political process. Four factors support the democratic electoral regime: 'universal, active suffrage, universal, passive right to vote, free and fair elections and elected representatives.' In order to maintain a democratic electoral regime, all four factors must be present. Voters must all be able to vote in free and fair elections, without coercion, to elect representatives for themselves in the government. An electoral democracy is a form of government in which the democratic electoral regime is present, but other attributes of liberal embedded democracies are lacking. Merkel writes that the 'electoral democracy merely entails that the election of the ruling elite be based on the formal, universal right to vote, such that elections are general, free and regular.' Freedom House uses its own set of criteria for determining whether or not a state is democratic, which include the existence of free and fair elections Furthermore, 'the most popular definition of democracy equates it with regular elections.' The principle of democratic electoral regimes is an important one for embedded democracy because electoral regimes are the base of democracies; electoral regimes act as the foundation for the other internal regimes due to the importance of elections for democratic processes. The internal regime of political participation is closely related to the electoral regime. According to Merkel, participatory rights 'make the public arena an independent political sphere of action, where organizational and communicative power is developed.' Political participation is facilitated by freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to petition, and freedom of the press. In Merkel's vision of embedded democracy, citizens are able to form independent interest groups and organize parties to help them express their political preferences. Political participation is not limited to traditional institutionalized channels for expression; it can take place in arenas like the private media and civil society. Some scholars of democracy disagree with Merkel's assertion that frequent political participation is the ideal for a representative democracy. Joseph Schumpeter sees direct participation as limited to elections in a representative democracy; in the intervals between elections, citizens allow representatives to speak for them. Robert Dahl argues that only a small portion of the population will be active in political participation and warns that mass participation in a representative democracy could lead to dictatorship. In weak or failed states, 'low-intensity citizenship' is often commonplace. This means that many people are denied their full political rights or choose not to exercise them. Political participation in modern democracies is frequently weakened by public apathy and disinterest in government. As government bureaucracies have grown in size, people have generally participated in political processes less frequently, especially those in low socioeconomic groups. Some countries have more equitable voting patterns than others; for instance, Denmark has less income inequality than the United States as well as higher rates of political participation. However, political participation does not depend solely on income distribution: it is also influenced by individual motivation and group affiliation. In some cases, individuals whose economic status predisposes them to political apathy are more likely to participate if motivated by identification with a large group. Proponents of deliberative democracy believe that the ideal democracy allows individuals to participate equally in discussions. In Fishkin's vision of deliberative democracy, interest groups or parties do not dominate a discussion. Fishkin acknowledges difficulties in achieving mass participation: people view their opinions as statistically insignificant, and they are often uneducated about political topics and easily influenced by the media. In modern democracies, most citizens avoid discussing politics with people they disagree with, which limits the potential for conciliation and compromise. While the internet can provide a forum for deliberation and potentially change participation patterms, it may also increase political polarization. Deliberative polling may offer one means for political participation. The first two partial regimes of embedded democracy, the democratic electoral regime and political rights of participation, must be supplemented by civil rights Civil rights are central to the rule of law in an embedded democracy. Merkel defines the rule of law as “the principle that the state is bound to uphold its laws effectively and to act according to clearly defined prerogatives.” The rule of law contains and limits state power.