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Is Liberal Democracy Feasible in Developing Countries?

Studies in Comparative International Development volume 51, pages 50–59 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Liberal democracy has been difficult to institute and sustain in developing countries. This has to do both with ideational factors—the absence of a liberal tradition prior to electoral mobilization—and structural conditions—the prevalence of mass mobilization along identity rather than class cleavages. This paper considers the conditions under which liberal democracy emerges and speculates about its future in developing countries.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. The evidence that democracy leads to higher growth is generally considered to be weak. However, a recent paper by Acemoglu et al. (2014) makes a strong case that it does.

  2. See, for example, Boix (2003), Acemoglu and Robinson (2009), and Ansell and Samuels (2014).

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Acknowledgments

This paper was prepared for the 50th Fiftieth Anniversary Conference of Studies in Comparative International Development, Brown University, October 30, 2015. I am grateful to conference participants, especially Peter Evans and Peter Gourevitch for very helpful comments.

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  1. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Dani Rodrik

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  1. Dani Rodrik
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Correspondence to Dani Rodrik.

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Rodrik, D. Is Liberal Democracy Feasible in Developing Countries?. St Comp Int Dev 51, 50–59 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-016-9218-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-016-9218-6

Keywords

  • Liberal democracy
  • Developing countries