Electoral and liberal democracies seem like related to different patterns of revenue and identity cleavages, a finding that validates our analytical distinction between these two forms of democracies. Moreover, the data are according to the model’s prediction that top levels of identification cleavages are notably damaging to civil rights and liberal democracy, versus political rights and electoral democracy.
Our first set of results demonstrates that this political settlement that led to democratisation typically excluded the primary beneficiary of civil rights—the dispossessed minorities. These minorities have neither sources (just like the elite) nor numbers (like the majority) behind them. So they do not have one thing to bring to the table and cannot make any credible threats. Accordingly, the political logic of democratisation beneath the specter of revolution dictates the supply of property and political rights however not civil rights.
These distinctions allow us to capture a rich variety of outcomes. … Read More
