- The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Modernization Theory: Does Economic Development Cause Democratization?
- Dependency Theory
- Structuralism
- Political Development
- The Washington Consensus and the New Political Economy of Economic Reform
- Penury Traps and Prosperity Tales: Why Some Countries Escape Poverty While Others Do Not
- Culture, Politics, and Development
- Religion, Politics, and Economic Development: Synergies and Disconnects
- Does Inequality Harm Economic Development and Democracy?: Accounting for Missing Values, Noncomparable Observations, and Endogeneity
- Ethnicity and Development
- Civil Conflict and Development
- The Politics of the Resource Curse: A Review
- Taxation and Development
- How Do Governments Build Capabilities to Do Great Things?: Ten Cases, Two Competing Explanations, One Large Research Agenda
- Leadership and the Politics of Development
- Colonialism and Development in Africa
- Investment and Debt
- The Role of the State in Harnessing Trade-and-Investment for Development Purposes
- International Financial Institutions and Market Liberalization in the Developing World
- Foreign Aid and Democratization in Developing Countries
- Organizing for Prosperity: Collective Action, Political Parties, and the Political Economy of Development
- Missing Links in the Institutional Chain
- The Comparative Politics of Service Delivery in Developing Countries
- Party Systems and the Politics of Development
- Populism and Political Representation
- Africa’s Political Economy in the Contemporary Era
- The Politics of Development in Latin America and East Asia
- Development and Underdevelopment in the Middle East and North Africa
- Rethinking the Institutional Foundations of China’s Hypergrowth: Official Incentives, Institutional Constraints, and Local Developmentalism
- The Political Economy of Growth and Development in India: Two Puzzles
- The Politics of Growth in South Korea: Miracle, Crisis, and the New Market Economy
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This article examines the link between economic development and democracy. Drawing on modernization theory, it considers whether democracy is more likely to emerge in a country that modernizes economically. After discussing various criticisms against modernization theory, the article reviews statistical evidence to determine whether economic modernization gives rise to democracy. It argues that the correlation between economic development and democracy stems from the survival of democracy and that a poor authoritarian regime is not likely to turn into a democracy even if it receives economic assistance, either in the form of foreign aid or access to markets through trade. The article highlights the correlation between economic level and survival, rather than between economic growth and survival, noting that economic growth can be helpful only if it is sustained.
Keywords: economic development, democracy, modernization theory, economic assistance, foreign aid, trade, economic level, economic growth
José Antonio Cheibub University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
James Raymond Vreeland Georgetown University
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- The Oxford Handbook of the Politics of Development
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- Modernization Theory: Does Economic Development Cause Democratization?
- Dependency Theory
- Structuralism
- Political Development
- The Washington Consensus and the New Political Economy of Economic Reform
- Penury Traps and Prosperity Tales: Why Some Countries Escape Poverty While Others Do Not
- Culture, Politics, and Development
- Religion, Politics, and Economic Development: Synergies and Disconnects
- Does Inequality Harm Economic Development and Democracy?: Accounting for Missing Values, Noncomparable Observations, and Endogeneity
- Ethnicity and Development
- Civil Conflict and Development
- The Politics of the Resource Curse: A Review
- Taxation and Development
- How Do Governments Build Capabilities to Do Great Things?: Ten Cases, Two Competing Explanations, One Large Research Agenda
- Leadership and the Politics of Development
- Colonialism and Development in Africa
- Investment and Debt
- The Role of the State in Harnessing Trade-and-Investment for Development Purposes
- International Financial Institutions and Market Liberalization in the Developing World
- Foreign Aid and Democratization in Developing Countries
- Organizing for Prosperity: Collective Action, Political Parties, and the Political Economy of Development
- Missing Links in the Institutional Chain
- The Comparative Politics of Service Delivery in Developing Countries
- Party Systems and the Politics of Development
- Populism and Political Representation
- Africa’s Political Economy in the Contemporary Era
- The Politics of Development in Latin America and East Asia
- Development and Underdevelopment in the Middle East and North Africa
- Rethinking the Institutional Foundations of China’s Hypergrowth: Official Incentives, Institutional Constraints, and Local Developmentalism
- The Political Economy of Growth and Development in India: Two Puzzles
- The Politics of Growth in South Korea: Miracle, Crisis, and the New Market Economy
- Index
