Wednesday, February 17th, 1999

Announcements: None

Lecture notes:
I. Current Events
    A. The Kurdish leader, Adbullah Ocalan, was arrested in Kenya.
        1. He was one of the most wanted fugitives in Turkey.
        2. He was the Kurd leader for the last 14 years.
        3. Turks wanted to arrest him because they believed he was a terrorist
        4. The Kurds, especially Ocalan, have been fighting for a homeland in Turkey.
            a. Turks don't want them to live there.
        5. Kurds are currently living in Northern Iraq and Syria, Southern Turkey and
            parts of Iran.
        6. Kurds all over the world have been staging riots and storming embassies in reaction to
            the arrest of their leader.
    B. Kosovo
        1. Madeline Albright said that  deal must be made by Saturday, or NATO will proceed
            with the bombing in Serbia.
        2. NATO has stated that any peace agreement reached between the two countries will be
            enforced by 28,000 NATO troops over the next three years.
            a. Of these 28,000 troops, President Clinton has pledged 4,000 troops.
        3. People of Kosovo have agreed to give up on the idea of having a referendum in 3 years.
            a. They were going to vote for their independence.
            b. They had one condition to this concession, that NATO troops enforce the peace
                agreement.
        4. Currently, the major disagreement that the Serbs have had is the use of NATO troops
            to enforce the pending peace agreement..
        5. The peace keepers are waiting to see Serbian President Milan Milutinovic's reaction to
            the terms of the peace agreement.
II. Democracy
    A. Democracy is a branch of liberalism
    B. It means government by the people.
    C. It has its roots in Ancient Greece.
        1. Everyone was able to vote on all matters of state.
        2. Considered to be a true democracy.
        3. Eventually failed because it was a democracy by the poor.
            a. The poor people made up the largest segment of the population.
            b. Plato said we need a government lead by the most educated persons in the society.
            c. Aristotle said that the ideal government would combine democracy and monarchy.
    D. Vote of majority is the vote of the people.
    E. Ross Perot said while running for president that due to advances in technology, we can
        now have a real (true) democracy.
    F. Everyone can vote on every issue, not just directly; it is done indirectly through elected
        officials.
        1. The votes are indirect because the public votes on the issue through the representative
            they elected to hold the office.
    G. A "true" democracy is bad because people would vote in their best interests, which are not
        necessarily the best interest of the entire country.
    H. 18th and 19th century Democracy
        1. The birth of the representative democracy-- The US is the best example

III. Understanding Democracy
    A. People tend to elect people with similar views to vote on their behalf.
    B. 3 things need to understand about democracy:
        1. Meaningful and extensive competition
            a. Need political parties
        2. Highly Inclusive level of political participation
            a. Must have laws mandating a person's eligibility to vote/participate in government
        3. Level political and civil liberties
    Example: In Croatia, people can start voting at 15, if they have left school to work
                    full-time.
    C. People have the freedom to make choices
IV. Robert Dahl wrote " Polyarchy"
    A. Polyarchy means to "rule by many"
    B. Democracies aren't true democracies, they are polyarchies.

    C. US has become more democratic because it allows women to vote, minorities to vote,
        makes Senators elected by direct vote, and lowers voting age.
    D. Democracy is like a continuum -- either the country becomes more democratic or less
        democratic over time.
    E. Dahl believes that democracies need : ( Illustrated above)
        1. Great participation by the voters and citizens
        2. Great public contestation by having political parties
    F. USSR said it was a democracy because everyone was allowed to vote and they had a
        voter turn-out around 90%.
        1. Wasn't a democracy because they only had one party.
    G. South Africa in the 1980s had segregation of its population
        1. Had a great number of civil liberties and public contestation, but many sanctions were
            placed on who was allowed to vote.
        2. The civil liberties and the public contestation was mainly for the white citizens of South
            Africa.
    H. Russia today, took the place of the USSR.
        1. Communism fell and democracy took its place,
        2. Now has a multi-party system, with civil liberties
        3. Russia moved toward democracy.
    I. South Africa in the 1990s no longer is segregated and everyone can now vote.
        1. It moved toward democracy.
V. Democracy
    A. Ideal state of government
    B. All countries strive to become  more democratic
    C. No country can be a true democracy
VI. Organizations devoted to spreading democracy and promoting human rights.
    A. Freedom House www.freedom.org
    B. Open Society Institutes www.soros.org
        1. Founded by George Soros
        2. It is one of the most powerful organizations of its kind
        3. Has pledged more money to aid Russia than the US over the next ten years.
    C. Both organizations promote democracy and human rights around the world
    D. Tends to deal mainly with causes in Central and Westerner Europe, but also deals with
        some domestic issues.
        1. They are now starting to branch out into problems in Africa and Asia.
VII. Location of democracy
    A. Democracies are mainly found in European countries, especially in the Western portions.
    B. There are some other democracies also located in Africa and in Latin America.
    C. India is the largest functioning democracy.
VIII. Samuel Huntington
    A. Important political scientist working on democracy
    B. Wrote "The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late 20th Century"
        1. Third Wave occurred in early 1970s
IX. How do countries relate?
    A. First person to address this question was Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher, in 1795.
    B. Democracies tend not to fight one another -- they tend to get along.
    C. Reasons they get along:
        1. Trade among nations vital to economy
        2. Goals and interests are common
        3. Organizations and alliances bring countries together.
    D. Political scientists did studies and found that democracies were just as likely as other
        countries to engage in wars as non democratic countries, but they didn't go to war against
        each other.
        1. In the 20th century, they went to war to stop the spread of Communism
X. What does democracy mean to foreign policy?
    A. The situation in Somalia at the end of the Bush administration is a good example of how
        democracy works in foreign policy.
    B. US didn't get involve until the media showed pictures of the conditions in Somalia, and
        citizens put pressure on their representative to take action.
    C. They sent troops over, and a few were killed, they citizens again put pressure on their
        representatives; this time to recall the troops.
        1. They recalled the troops.
        2. Look at the whole situation as a mistake.
    D. It shows how people want something that wasn't at the best interest for the US's foreign
        policy.
    E. Some believe that foreign policy should be conducted behind closed doors, because of
        this.
    F. Others feel that it should be conducted openly, because the last time foreign policy was
        "behind closed doors,"  WWI was started.