Civil society, ideas, and policymaking: Building a new framework for democratization research

This dissertation proposes a dynamic theory of regime change, one that enables analysis of the nature and durability of democratic institutions in states emerging from authoritarian rule. This theory draws on insights from literature on political philosophy, policymaking, and democratization, and is concerned generally with the role of changing ideas, but more specifically with a civil society of associations and its involvement in policymaking.; At the same time that the democratization literature began to look at how structural conditions motivate strategic action by regime elites (O'Donnell and Schmitter 1986, Collier and Collier 1991) and at how institutions shape political development (Linz and Valenzuela 1994), models of the policymaking process have evolved from pluralism and subgovernments to emphasize the dynamism and importance of ideas, groups, and institutions for policy change (Baumgartner and Jones 1993, Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith 1993). A critique of the democratization literature with respect to this parallel development in policymaking points to the importance of changing ideas about causes and solutions of problems arising from changing structural conditions, and hence to the importance of changing ideas about relationships between the state, society, and the economy. Electoral choice is an essential component of democracy, but it only episodically and imperfectly captures ideas and interests in society. A state that is disconnected from society is a state that is unable to recognize new ideas and interests effectively, so that the resulting inaction or ineffective action to resolve these problems leads to dissension among regime elites and mobilization of society; this, in turn, may lead to liberalization and strategic action by regime and opposition actors, and thus potentially to a regime transition. As an active civil society provides the best environment for the identification, development, and communication of ideas, and as changing ideas stimulate policy change, the nature and durability of a democratic regime can be analyzed through examination of civil society and its involvement in policymaking processes. The direction of future political development can be evaluated by combining this assessment with ways in which society views problems and solutions, and with potential changes in structural conditions.; The case of the Czech Republic is used as an illustration of the dynamic process, both as a means for analyzing past political development, and as a means for projecting its future prospects for political development. Data used in this analysis are from field research conducted in 1995--96, and comprise survey results, economic data, legal documents, interviews, and other materials. Preliminary conclusions about current and potential democratic development in the Czech Republic are guardedly optimistic.