Capitalist Development and Democracy

by Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber, John D. Stephens

How are capitalism and democracy related Does capitalist development today generate pressures for democratization in the same way it did earlier in the core countries of capitalism Past research has come to divergent conclusions on these questions. Crossnational statistical research has found that capitalist development and democracy are consistently correlated. By contrast, comparative historical studies have argued that economic development and democracy was and is compatible with a variety of political forms, and that in some cases economic development imperatives have led to the authoritarian eclipse of political competition, and that the chances of democracy in developing countries are rather poor. The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of the structural conditions of democracy. They review existing research and offer a new theoretical framework for resolving current controversies in the study of democracy. They conclude with reflections on the prospects of democracy in Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Genres: Economics, Political Science, Politics

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 1992

Reviews

[Trashy Pit · Rating 5 out of 5]

You wanna know what democracy is and where it comes from? (And how do we get it if we ain't got it?)
Forget all the "democratic theory" babble and "political philosophy" gibberish, the "Western Values" garbage and "Liberal ideas" gobbledygook, the "capitalism" nonsense and "middle class" baloney, the "constitutional tradition" hot air and Patriotic "fighting-for-democracy" masturbation, and especially the “march-of-history” drivel and all the “comes-with-modernity” noise.
Read this book. Then you’ll know.