Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Development strategy and regime type: Why doesn’t democracy matter?

  • Development Theory
  • Published:
Studies in Comparative International Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The development strategy literature argues that autonomous bureaucrats in authoritarian Asian NICs followed successful export-led growth strategies while Latin American policymakers were pressured by mobilized sectors to maintain doomed import substitution industrialization. What is more, this ISI strategy made the consolidation of democracy impossible. However, my research on Venezuela indicates that ISI and democracy can be made compatible—the democratic state was penetrated by business and labor, those avenues for penetration were protected from electoral politics, and the relative participation of business and labor remained fluid. How are recently established democracies being made compatible with a new market-oriented development strategy? Evidence from East Asia and Latin America indicates that the transition to market-oriented economies and the institutionalization of participation by key sectors have not gone together. Policymakers are trying to isolate bureaucrats from public pressure and centralize power away from bodies vulnerable to electoral oversight. The “deinstitutionalization” of democratic politics may make the relationship between regime type and development strategy unstable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ARROYO TALA VERA, EDUARDO 1988Elecciones y negociaciones: los limites de la democracia en Venezuela. Caracas: CONICIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • BAPTISTA, ADRÚBAL 1985 Gasto público, ingreso petrolero, y distribución del ingreso: una nota adicional.Trimestre Económico LII (1/January-March): 225–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • BAPTISTA, ADRÚBAL 1980 Gasto público, ingreso petrolero, y distribución del ingreso.Trimestre Económico XLVII (2/April-June): 431–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • BAPTISTA, ASDRÚBAL and BERNARD MOMMER 1989 Renta petrolera y distributión factorial del ingreso. In ¿Adios a la bonanza?, edited by Hans-Peter Nissen and Bernard Mommer. Caracas: ILDISCENDES and Editorial Nueva Sociedad.

    Google Scholar 

  • BATES, ROBERT H. 1992 Review of Debt, development, and democracy: modern political economy and Latin America, by Jeffry Frieden.Comparative Political Studies 25: 281–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BENNETT, JOHN T. 1991 Economic developments in the Republic of Korea. InDemocracy and development in East Asia, edited by Thomas W. Robinson. Washington: AEI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • BLANK, DAVID E. 1973Politics in Venezuela. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • BRESSER PEREIRA, LUIZ CARLOS, JOSÉ MARÍA MARAVALL, and ADAM PRZEWORSKI 1993Economic reforms in new democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • BUCHANAN, Paul G. 1991Reconstituting the institutional bases of consent: notes on state-labor relations and democratic consolidation in the southern cone. Kellogg Institute Working Paper #160. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame.

    Google Scholar 

  • CHENG, TUN-JEN and EUN MEE KIM 1994 Making democracy: generalizing the South Korean case. InThe politics of democratization: generalizing East Asian experiences, edited by Edward Friedman. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chu, Yun-Han 1994 The realignment of business-government relations and regime transition in Taiwan. InBusiness and government in industrializing Asia, edited by Andrew MacIntyre. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • COLLIER, RUTH BERINS, and DAVID COLLIER 1991Shaping the political arena: critical junctures, the labor movement, and regime dynamics in Latin America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • COLMENARES HERRERA, INGRID B. 1985 Posición del sector empresarial privado organizado ante el proyecto de la le que crea la comisión nacional de costos, precios, y salarios. Master’s thesis, Universidad Católica André Bello.

  • COMISIÓN DE ESTUDIO Y REFORMA FISCAL 1987Analisis de los efectos economicos y sociales del gasto público en Venezuela. Vol.1. Caracas: República de Venezuela.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conaghan, Catherine M., and James M. Malloy 1994 {Unsettling statescraft:}btdemocracy and neoliberalism in the central Andes. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • COPPEDGE, MICHAEL 1994Unsettling statecraft: democracy and neoliberalism in the central Andes. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • COPPEDGE, MICHAEL 1994Strong parties and lame ducks: presidential partyarchy and factionalism in Venezuela. Stanford, Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • CRISP, BRIAN F. 1997Control institucional de la participación en la democracia Venezolana. Caracas: Editorial Jurídica Venezolana.

    Google Scholar 

  • CRISP, BRIAN F. 1994 Limitations to democracy in developing capitalist societies: the case of Venezuela.World Development 22(10): 1491–1509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crisp, Brian F., Daniel H. Levine, and Juan Carlos Rey 1995 The legitimacy problem. InVenezuelan democracy under stress, edited by Jennifer McCoy, Andrés Serbin, William Smith, and Andrés Stambouli. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • ELLISON, CHRISTOPHER, and GARY GEREFFI 1990 Explaining strategies and patterns of industrial development. InManufacturing miracles: paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia, edited by Gary Gereffi and Donald L. Wyman. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • ELLNER, STEVE 1993Organized labor in Venezuela, 1958-1991. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • GEREFFI, GARY 1990 Paths of industrialization: an overview. InManufacturing miracles: paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia, edited by Gary Gereffi and Donald L. Wyman. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gereffi, Gary, and Donald L. Wyman, Eds. 1990Manufacturing miracles: paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • GOLD, THOMAS B. 1991 Review ofManufacturing miracles: paths of industrialization in Latin America and East Asia. edited by Gary Gereffi and Donald L. Wyman.Contemporary Sociology 20: 708–10.

  • GUEVARA, PEDRO 1988Concertación o conflicto: el pacto social y el fracaso de las respuestas consensuales a la crisis del sistema político Venezolano. Caracas: La Universidad Central.

    Google Scholar 

  • HAGGARD STEPHAN 1990Pathways from the periphery: the politics of growth in the newly industrializing countries. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • HAGGARD, STEPHAN, and ROBERT R. KAUFMAN 1995The political economy of democratic transitions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • HAN, SUNG-JOO and YUNG CHUL Park 1992 South Korea: democratization at last. InDriven by growth: political change in the Asia-Pacific region, edited by James W. Morely. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • KARL, TERRY 1982 The political economy of petrodollars: oil and democracy. Ph.D. diss. Stanford University.

  • — 1986 Petroleum and political pacts: the transition to democracy in Venezuela. InTransitions from authoritarian rule: Latin America, edited by Guillermo O'Donnell, Philippe C. Schmitter, and Laurence Whitehead. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • KIM, JAE YOUL 1992 Democratization in South Korea. InEconomic development and democratization in the Asia-Pacific region. Washington: CSIS.

    Google Scholar 

  • KIM, KYONG-DONG 1991 Sociocultural developments in the Republic of Korea. InDemocracy and development in East Asia, edited by Thomas W. Robinson. Washington: AEI Pres.

    Google Scholar 

  • KOO, HAGEN 1993 the state,minjung, and the working class in South Korea. InState and society in contemporary Korea, edited by Hagen Koo. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • LEE, HENG 1994 Uncertain promise: democratic consolidation in South Korea. InThe politics of democratization: generalizing East Asian experiences, edited by Edward Friedman. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • LEVINE, DANIEL H. and BRIAN F. CRISP 1995 Legitimacy, governabilitiy, and institutions in Venezuela. inLessons of the Venezuelan experience, edited by Joseph S. Tulchin, Moisés Naim, Louis Goodman, and Johanna Mendelson-Forman. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • LÓPEZ MAYA, MARGARITA, LUIS GÓMEZ CALCAÑO, and THAÍS MAINGÓN 1989De punto fijo al pacto social: desarrollo y hegemonía en Venezuela (1958-1985), Caracas: Fondo Editorial Acta Científica Venezolana.

    Google Scholar 

  • MACHADO DE ACEDO. CLEMY, EMILIO PACHECO 1981 {iEstado y grupos económicos en Venezuela}, Caracas: Edutiruak Ateneo de Caracas.

    Google Scholar 

  • MARTZ, JOHN D 1966Acción democrática: evolution of a modern political party in Venezuela. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MCCOY, JENNIFER 1989 Labor and state in a party-mediated democracy: institutional change in Venezuela.Latin American Research Review 24: 35–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • MCCOY, JENNIFER and WILLIAM C. SMITH 1995 From deconsolidation to reequilibriation? prospects for democratic renewal in Venezuela. InVenezuelan democracy under stress, edited by Jennifer McCoy, Andrés Serbin, William C. Smith, and Andrés Stambouli. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • MCDANIEL, TIM 1993 Categorical independent variables in ordinary least squares models. Master's thesis. University of Michigan.

  • MIKKELSEN, JAN GIEHM 1991 An econometric investigation of capital flight.Applied Economics 23: 73–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MOON, CHUNG-IN 1994 Changing patterns of business-government relations in South Korea. InBusiness and government in industrializing Asia, edited by Andrew MacIntyre, Itaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • NAIM, MOISÉS 1993Paper tigers & minotaurs: the politics of Venezuela's economic reforms. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’DONNELL, GUILLERMO 1994 Delegative democracy.Journal of Democracy 5 (1): 55–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • — 1978 Reflections on the patterns of change in the bureaucratic-authoritarian state.Latin American Research Review 13: 3–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • PIÑERO, MARIELVI and ANGELA MEO 1985 Estudio de un pólitica: sector electrónica. In the files of the IESA library. Typescript.

  • PLUNK, DARYL M. 1991 Political developments in the Republic of Korea. InDemocracy and development in East Asia, edited by Thomas W. Robinson. Washington: AEI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • REMMER, KAREN 1990 Democracy and economic crisis: the Latin American experience.World Politics 42: 315–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • REY JAN CARLOS 1994 olarización electoral, economía del voto y voto castigo en Venezuela: 1958-1988.Cuestiones Políticas 12: 3–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • ROBERTS, KENENTH M. 1995 Neoliberalism and the transformation of populism in Latin America: the Peruvian case.World Politics 48 (October): 82–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SABINO, CARLOS A. 1988Empleo y gasto público en Venezuela. Caracas: Editorial PANAPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • SALGADO, RENÉ 1987 Economic pressure groups and policy-making in Venezuela: the case of FEDECAMARAS reconsidered,Latin American Research Review 22, 3:91–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • SCULLY, TIMOTH R. 1994The political underpinnings of economic liberalization in Chile, Kellog Institute Working Paper, #211, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame.

    Google Scholar 

  • SHEAHAN, JOHN 1987Patterns of development in Latin America. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • VILLALBA, JULIÁN 1983Un sector productivo: la industria automotriz, Caracas: Ediciones IESA.

    Google Scholar 

  • VILLASMIL P., HUMBERTO E. 1982 La estabilidad laboral en la legislación Venezolana: comentarios a la ley contra despidos injustificados. Master’s thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

  • WAISMAN, CARLOS H. 1992 Capitalism, the market, and democracy,American Behavioral Scientist 35: 500–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • — 1987The reversal of development in Argentina: postwar counterrevolutionary policies and their structural consequences. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Brain F. Crisp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Brian F. Crisp is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona. He has published several articles and book chapters on interest group participation, presidentialism, and economic development. His most recent articles appear in theLatin American Research Review and theJournal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs. His book,Democratic Institutional Design: the Power and Incentives of Venezuelan Politicians and Interest Groups, will be published by Stanford University Press in 1999.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Crisp, B.F. Development strategy and regime type: Why doesn’t democracy matter?. St Comp Int Dev 33, 8–41 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02788193

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02788193

Keywords

Search

Navigation