Theoretical Framework: Democracy, System Transformation and Welfare Regimes

Abstract

This chapter introduces the theoretical framework of this book. It concentrates, first, on the factors that influence the existence and development of dictatorship and democracy in one country (these factors being related to economic growth, redistribution of wealth, existence of peculiar political institutions, the political culture of a nation and so on), as well as on the role of institutions and of power in the social construction of violence. Subsequently, it examines the contributions of social theorists, new institutionalist scholars and analytical sociologists to the maintenance of social order and system stability. In doing so, it emphasizes the need to look beyond one-dimensional conceptions of modernization or simplistic assumptions based on structure-related explanations, drawing, instead, attention to the agency of actors, as well as to the relevant institutional and social mechanisms of system transformation. Finally, the chapter high-lights the important role of welfare regimes in altering existing power and social relations. Loyalty-enhancing strategies in system integration or dis-integration are discussed, as these are crucial elements for system stability or change.