We review the literature on the relation between socio-economic development and political
democracy, a field that is commonly known as modernization theory. Guided by the seminal …

Several very influential authors in political science and economics have recently argued that
the relationship between economic development and democracy is extremely weak …

▪ Abstract In this essay, I review recent research on the effects of economic development on
democracy. On the theoretical side, for the first time there has been a systematic attempt to …

The purpose of this article is to reassess two influential theories of democratic development:
the theory of democratic culture and the theory of economic development. The leading …

Most of us, ardent democrats all, would like to believe that democracy is not merely good in
itself, it is also valuable in enhancing the process of development. Of course, if we take a …

Richer countries are generally democratic. But this could reflect reverse causation or omitted
variables. Evidence that democratizations yield subsequent economic growth is quite weak …

Recent studies appear to show that democracy has no robust association with economic
growth. Yet all such work assumes that the causal effect of democracy can be measured by …

Scholars continue to disagree about the relationship between economic development and
democracy. I review the history of the debate and summarize patterns visible in data …

Competing theoretical models have been proposed that represent each of the possibilities:
democracy as facilitating development, democracy as a hindrance to development, and …

Since Lipset's seminal study, some scholars have believed that economic development
leads to democratization. Theoretically, however, more democratized political systems can …