Understanding Democratic and Authoritarian Regimes: Principles and Challenges
Understanding Democratic and Authoritarian Regimes
Democratic Regime: Sovereignty resides in the people, who can elect or change their rulers.
Authoritarian or Dictatorial Regime: A tyrant or party occupies power and governs without respecting the will of the people.
Power Warning: Under the law and law of a State.
Legitimate Power: Fair and lawful.
Democracy is a way to organize political power to avoid injustices and discrimination. The problems are:
- Can citizens choose their representatives freely
The European Commission: Structure, Roles, and Powers
The European Commission
Composition
Commissioners
- Consists of 27 Commissioners, typically one per Member State (MS).
- Serve five-year terms.
- Must act independently of Member State interests, responding to the interests of the Union as a whole and accountable to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
- Members are nominated by their respective Member State governments (represented in the Council of the European Union) and the entire College of Commissioners must be approved as a body by the European Parliament.
19th Century Europe: Key Events and Timeline (1814-1921)
The Foundations of the Restoration (1814-1820)
- 1814
- June 4: Louis XVIII grants La Charte.
- October 1: First meeting of the Congress of Vienna.
- 1815
- June 9: Last session of the Congress of Vienna.
- June 18: Battle of Waterloo.
- July 18: Napoleon definitively exiled.
- September 14: Russia, Prussia, and Austria sign the Holy Alliance.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution (1820-1830)
- 1820
- January 1: Colonel Riego’s Revolt in Cabezas de San Juan.
- March 8: Ferdinand VII endorses the Constitution of Cádiz.
- 1823
- April 7:
Spanish Political System Restoration: Key Events and Parties
POLITICAL SYSTEM RESTORATION
Satisfaction and Conservative Restoration
x-Canovas-constitution [bipartidsmo order and pacify the country and Cuba Carlist] / call for cuts Eleccions constituyntes / Constitution 76 (doctrinaire liberalism [census-sufrg, shared sovereignty, conservative character] / monarkia = moderating power (powers of King) / bii cuts, based on census voting, universal sufrg masc / confessional Catholic state “bill of rights / bipartidsmo and alternation in power-shift-Pacific kedo
Read MoreEuropean Union: History, Institutions, and Canary Islands Integration
European Union: A Historical Overview
1951: European Community of Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). Sector regulated by member countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, and Netherlands).
1957: Treaty of Rome. EEC is created.
1973: Incorporates Denmark, Ireland, and the UK.
1981: Greece, Portugal, and Spain signed the Single European Act, agreeing to free circulation of persons, goods, and services.
1992: Maastricht Treaty establishing the EU.
1995: Finland, Sweden, and Austria join.
Read MoreUnderstanding Democracy: Meanings and Models
Item 6. Democracy
The Meanings of Democracy
Democracy is today one of the few positive words that exist in the political vocabulary. However, this positive perception is very recent. It’s hard to find widespread sympathy for democracy well into the nineteenth century. In the entire history of political theory, it is difficult to find arguments explicitly for democracy until the struggle for universal suffrage appeared during the nineteenth century and developed in the twentieth. Democracy was often
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