Can democracy be taught?

Journal of Democracy

Volumn 14, Issue 4, 2003, Pages 137-151

  Finkel, Steven E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0242287398     PISSN: 10455736     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jod.2003.0073     Document Type: Review

References (28)

1. See especially Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999); Thomas Carothers and Marina Ottaway, eds., Funding Virtue: Civil Society Aid and Democracy Promotion (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2000); Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).
2. See especially Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999); Thomas Carothers and Marina Ottaway, eds., Funding Virtue: Civil Society Aid and Democracy Promotion (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2000); Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).
3. See especially Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999); Thomas Carothers and Marina Ottaway, eds., Funding Virtue: Civil Society Aid and Democracy Promotion (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2000); Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).
4. See Roxana Morducehowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
5. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
6. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
7. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
8. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
9. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
10. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
11. See Roxana Morduchowicz et al., "Teaching Political Information and Democratic Values in a New Democracy: An Argentine Experiment," Comparative Politics 28 (July 1996): 465-76; K.M. Slomczynski and G. Shabad, "Can Support for Democracy and the Market Be Learned in School? A Natural Experiment in Post-Communist Poland," Political Psychology 19 (December 1998): 749-79; and Judith Torney-Purta, Rainer Lehmann, Hans Oswald, and Wolfram Schulz, Citizenship and Education in Twenty-Eight Countries: Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age Fourteen (Amsterdam: IEA, 2000). For programmatic evaluations of previous civic education efforts, see Sally Yudelman and Lucy Conger, The Paving Stones: An Evaluation of Latin American Civic Education Programs (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1997) and Mark S. Johnson, An Evaluation of Strengthening Russian Democracy Through Civic Education (Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for Democracy, 1998). Impact evaluations can be found in Michael Bratton et al., "The Effects of Civic Education on Political Culture: Evidence from Zambia," World Development 27 (May 1999): 807-24; Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74; and Steven E. Finkel, "Civic Education and the Mobilization of Participation in Developing Democracies," Journal of Politics 64 (November 2002): 994-1020.
12. The study was commissioned by USAID's Center for Democracy and Governance, Bureau for Global Programs, and implemented by the Washington-based consulting company Management Systems International.
13. A total of 4,449 personal interviews were conducted altogether: 2,028 in the Dominican Republic, 1,481 in Poland, and 940 in South Africa. The data in the Dominican Republic were collected by the survey firm IEPD (Instituto de Estudios de Población y Desarollo); in Poland by OBOP (Ośrodek Badania Opinii Publicznej); and in South Africa by Markinor research group. A complete listing of the programs that were included in the study is found on page 146 above, and more information about the sampling procedures and the questionnaire can be found at www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/Finkel-14-4.pdf.
14. For the view that culture-related attitudes are likely to change relatively slowly, see Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture (Boston: Little, Brown 1963) and Robert Rohrschneider, Learning Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). For evidence of short-term changes in democratic attitudes, see Russell Dalton, "Communists and Democrats: Democratic Attitudes in the Two Germanies," British Journal of Political Science 24 (July 1994), and Richard Rose, William Mishler, and Christian Haerpfer, Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).
15. For the view that culture-related attitudes are likely to change relatively slowly, see Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture (Boston: Little, Brown 1963) and Robert Rohrschneider, Learning Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). For evidence of short-term changes in democratic attitudes, see Russell Dalton, "Communists and Democrats: Democratic Attitudes in the Two Germanies," British Journal of Political Science 24 (July 1994), and Richard Rose, William Mishler, and Christian Haerpfer, Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).
16. For the view that culture-related attitudes are likely to change relatively slowly, see Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture (Boston: Little, Brown 1963) and Robert Rohrschneider, Learning Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). For evidence of short-term changes in democratic attitudes, see Russell Dalton, "Communists and Democrats: Democratic Attitudes in the Two Germanies," British Journal of Political Science 24 (July 1994), and Richard Rose, William Mishler, and Christian Haerpfer, Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).
17. For the view that culture-related attitudes are likely to change relatively slowly, see Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture (Boston: Little, Brown 1963) and Robert Rohrschneider, Learning Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). For evidence of short-term changes in democratic attitudes, see Russell Dalton, "Communists and Democrats: Democratic Attitudes in the Two Germanies," British Journal of Political Science 24 (July 1994), and Richard Rose, William Mishler, and Christian Haerpfer, Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).
18. See, for example, James Gibson, Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa: Experiments in Democratic Persuasion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), and "A Sober Second Thought: An Experiment in Persuading Russians to Tolerate," American Journal of Political Science 42 (July 1998): 819-50.
19. See, for example, James Gibson, Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa: Experiments in Democratic Persuasion (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), and "A Sober Second Thought: An Experiment in Persuading Russians to Tolerate," American Journal of Political Science 42 (July 1998): 819-50.
20. On the role of secondary associations in developing skills and participatory orientations, see Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Scholzman, and Henry Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). On social capital and democratization, see Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993); Michael W. Foley and Bob Edwards, "The Paradox of Civil Society," Journal of Democracy 1 (July 1996): 38-52.
21. On the role of secondary associations in developing skills and participatory orientations, see Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Scholzman, and Henry Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). On social capital and democratization, see Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993); Michael W. Foley and Bob Edwards, "The Paradox of Civil Society," Journal of Democracy 1 (July 1996): 38-52.
22. On the role of secondary associations in developing skills and participatory orientations, see Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Scholzman, and Henry Brady, Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). On social capital and democratization, see Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993); Michael W. Foley and Bob Edwards, "The Paradox of Civil Society," Journal of Democracy 1 (July 1996): 38-52.
23. See especially Thomas Carothers, Assisting Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve; and Thomas Carothers and Marina Ottaway, eds., Funding Virtue.
24. Readers may find a full account of the findings, along with a description of the statistical methods that the study employed in order to screen out potentially confounding factors, at www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/Finkel-14-4.pdf.
25. This theme is developed more fully in Steven E. Finkel, Christopher A. Sabatini, and Gwendolyn G. Bevis, "Civic Education, Civil Society, and Political Mistrust in a Developing Democracy: The Case of the Dominican Republic," World Development 28 (November 2000): 1851-74.
26. A table containing the full results of these analyses can be found at www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/Finkel-14-4.pdf.
27. See Henry Brady, Kay Lehman Scholzman, and Sidney Verba, "Prospecting for Participants: Rational Expectations and the Recruitment of Political Activists," American Political Science Review 93 (March 1999): 153-69.
28. Russell Dalton, "Communists and Democrats: Democratic Attitudes in the Two Germanics," 490.