How Democracy Won in the West

• In Event: The Origins and Precariousness of Democracy: Historical Perspectives

Abstract

An enormous body of work explores how and why the countries of the West have become more democratic over the last 200 years. But modern democracy is not a single institution. Rather, it is a combination of elements that may arise at different times and for different reasons—an elected assembly, an accountable executive, legal opposition parties, the universal franchise, and the secret ballot, to name a few. I report on preliminary work that, building on classics by Dahl and Rokkan, seeks to measure and interpret how 11 key elements emerged and spread across Europe and the Americas. Initial impressions include: (a) a fractal-like structure of macro- and micro-waves, (b) consolidation of elements over time, and (c) the rise of contestation up a “ladder of democratic elements,” from fights over who has the right to vote to struggles to redefine what is “free and fair.” Major historical events—1848, the world wars, end of the Cold War—end up seeming less important than the trends into which they fit.

Author

• Daniel S. Treisman, University of California, Los Angeles