La política en conflicto: o la transición o la consolidación

Abstract

This paper pretends to expose theses which have given rise to political transitions or the transition from dictatorship to democracy. In general, there are several questions about how and why a dictatorial system evolves to a democratic system: Are necessary certain cultural, social, economic and political conditions in order to produce the evolution towards democracy? In other terms, is it possible to identify some specific forms which help us predict the possibility of a transition towards a democracy? In this sense, it is important to consider that transitions are only possible when some definitive steps appear: liberalization, democratization and consolidation. These steps are vital to understand the corollary of political transitions. Robert Dahl has considered five conditions which favor the transition towards democracy in a country. Firstly, the means of violent coercion have to be disseminated or neutralized. Secondly, the society has to be modern, dynamic and pluralistic, that is, society has to have certain levels of urbanization, people literacy, occupational diversity, social welfare levels, various organized and autonomous groups, economic growth, and an increasing living standard. Thirdly, the author states that it is necessary to have cultural homogeneity, or in case of the existence of heterogeneity, this should not be fragmented in subcultures or have leaders who propose agreements or consensus. Fourthly, this condition is related to the political culture, that is, this has to favor democracy. Finally, the country must not have subjected to the intervention of a foreign power hostile to polyarchy. The theses of Dahl coincide with the main idea of the transition in that this is just the process of substitution of an authoritarian political regime by a democratic one. Similarly, the transition can be originated by a rupture, but it is more frequent to find process which discard revolutionary developments and keep moderation. This is the framework of this essay: to show different positions and analysis presented by experts about the topic and try to elucidate the characteristics manifested by a possible consolidation. In political terms, consolidation will be the final step of democratization. At the end of this analysis, Colombia is taken as a case study. Based on the fluid movements proposed by Morlino, in Colombia, the democratic transition has some special characteristics, which could fit within a model such as that of Schmitter, even though it also has a special relation proposed by Dahl. However, everything depends on the criterion on which arguments are based.