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Revolutionary Transitions - To What? A quantitative analysis at the intersection of revolution and democracy

Berzell, Johanna LU (2022) FKVK02 20221
Department of Political Science
Abstract
Revolutions are historically recurring events, from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring. This thesis explores two plausible pre-revolution connections to post-revolution democracy levels, measuring democracy as a spectrum rather than a threshold. The first concerns the potential relation between pre-revolution democracy and post-revolution democracy. The second regards whether there is a pattern between pre-revolution regime type and post-revolution democracy. This exploration is guided by a theoretical framework that draws upon previous research on these very connections and is conducted through a mainly quantitative analysis of 20 countries that experienced revolutions between 1960-2000. The data is primarily collected from V-Dem’s... (More)
Revolutions are historically recurring events, from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring. This thesis explores two plausible pre-revolution connections to post-revolution democracy levels, measuring democracy as a spectrum rather than a threshold. The first concerns the potential relation between pre-revolution democracy and post-revolution democracy. The second regards whether there is a pattern between pre-revolution regime type and post-revolution democracy. This exploration is guided by a theoretical framework that draws upon previous research on these very connections and is conducted through a mainly quantitative analysis of 20 countries that experienced revolutions between 1960-2000. The data is primarily collected from V-Dem’s electoral democracy index and the Autocratic Regimes dataset.

Finally, the result illustrates a non-existing pattern between pre-revolution democracy and post-revolution democracy; it suggests that most revolutions occurring in more autocratic settings lead to at least a modicum of democratization as compared to previous regimes; and, it provides preliminary evidence that different pre-revolution regime types have different prospects for post-revolution democracy. Based on its findings, the thesis argues that research should continue to be conducted at the intersection of revolution and democracy by measuring democracy as a spectrum. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Berzell, Johanna LU
supervisor
organization
course
FKVK02 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Autocracy, Democracy, Democratization, Electoral democracy, Regime type, Regime transition, Revolution
language
English
id
9081083
date added to LUP
2022-07-03 09:08:49
date last changed
2022-07-03 09:08:49
@misc{9081083,
  abstract     = {{Revolutions are historically recurring events, from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring. This thesis explores two plausible pre-revolution connections to post-revolution democracy levels, measuring democracy as a spectrum rather than a threshold. The first concerns the potential relation between pre-revolution democracy and post-revolution democracy. The second regards whether there is a pattern between pre-revolution regime type and post-revolution democracy. This exploration is guided by a theoretical framework that draws upon previous research on these very connections and is conducted through a mainly quantitative analysis of 20 countries that experienced revolutions between 1960-2000. The data is primarily collected from V-Dem’s electoral democracy index and the Autocratic Regimes dataset. 

Finally, the result illustrates a non-existing pattern between pre-revolution democracy and post-revolution democracy; it suggests that most revolutions occurring in more autocratic settings lead to at least a modicum of democratization as compared to previous regimes; and, it provides preliminary evidence that different pre-revolution regime types have different prospects for post-revolution democracy. Based on its findings, the thesis argues that research should continue to be conducted at the intersection of revolution and democracy by measuring democracy as a spectrum.}},
  author       = {{Berzell, Johanna}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Revolutionary Transitions - To What? A quantitative analysis at the intersection of revolution and democracy}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}