Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:54:04.278Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Economic Origins of Democratic Breakdown? The Redistributive Model and the Postcolonial State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2014

Dan Slater ,
Benjamin Smith  and
Gautam Nair
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

From Aristotle to Acemoglu and Robinson, scholars have argued that democracy possesses powerful redistributive impulses, and imperils itself accordingly. We challenge the validity of the redistributive model of democratic breakdown in the postcolonial world—the only cases where democracies have collapsed since World War II—because its assumptions regarding state power are questionable or even inapplicable in postcolonial settings. Our correlative analysis of cross-sectional time series data from 139 countries between 1972 and 2007 indicates that, contrary to the expectations of the redistributive model, redistributive taxation is negatively associated with the incidence of military coups and the likelihood of democratic breakdown. Furthermore, authoritarian takeovers do not appear systematically to result in reduced redistribution from the rich. More fine-grained historical evidence from Southeast Asia—a region where the redistributive model should be especially likely to hold true—further affirms that authoritarian seizures of power are neither inspired by successful redistributive policies nor followed by their reversal. Taken together, these quantitative and qualitative data offer significant support for our central theoretical claim: contemporary democratic breakdowns have political origins in weak states, not economic origins in class conflict.

Type
Articles
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 353 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acemoglu, Daron, Naidu, Suresh, Restrepo, Pascual, and Robinson, James A.. 2013. “Democracy, Redistribution, and Inequality.” NBER Working Paper 19746 (December).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2006. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Ahlquist, John S., and Erik, Wibbels. 2012. “Riding the Wave: World Trade and Factor-Based Models of Democratization.” American Journal of Political Science 56(2): 447–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albertus, Michael. Forthcoming. “Explaining Patterns of Redistribution Under Autocracy: The Case of Peru's Revolution From Above.” Latin American Research Review (TBD).Google Scholar
Albertus, Michael, and Menaldo, Victor. 2012. “If You’re against Them You’re with Us: The Effect of Expropriation on Autocratic Survival.” Comparative Political Studies 45(8): 973–1003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Albertus, Michael, 2014. “Gaming Democracy: Elite Dominance during Transition and the Prospects for Redistribution.” British Journal of Political Science (February), pp. 1–29.Google Scholar
American Political Science Association. 2013. “Inequality and Democratization: What Do We Know?” Comparative Democratization Newsletter (October), pp. 1–41.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict R. O’G. 1998 [1988]. “Cacique Democracy in the Philippines.” In The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World, ed. Anderson, Benedict R. O’G. New York: Verso.Google Scholar
Ansell, Ben, and Samuels, David. 2010. “Inequality and Democratization: A Contractarian Approach.” Comparative Political Studies 43(12): 1543–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aristotle, . [1973]. The Politics of Aristotle. Ed. and trans. Baker, Ernest. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Asher, Mukul G., ed. 1989. Fiscal Systems and Practices in ASEAN: Trends, Impact, and Evaluation. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asher, Mukul G., and Kinantar, Agustin Jr. 1989. “Fiscal System and Practices in the Philippines” In Mukul G, Asher. (ed.).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Nathaniel, and Katz, Jonathan N.. 2001. “Throwing Out the Baby with the Bath Water: A Comment on Green, Kim, and Yoon.” International Organization 55(2): 487–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boix, Carles. 2003. Democracy and Redistribution. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheibub, José A., Gandhi, Jennifer, and Vreeland, James R.. 2010. “Democracy and Dictatorship Revisited.” Public Choice 143 2(1), 67–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deininger, K. and Squire, Lyn. 1996. “Measuring Income Inequality: A New Database.” World Bank Economic Review 10(3): 565–91. Referred to in Figure 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Larry. 2008. The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies throughout the World. New York: Henry Holt.Google Scholar
Doner, Richard F., Ritchie, Bryan K., and Slater, Dan. 2005. “Systemic Vulnerability and the Origins of Developmental States: Northeast and Southeast Asia in Comparative Perspective.” International Organization 59 (Spring): 327–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doronilla, Amando. 1992. The State, Economic Transformation, and Political Change in the Philippines, 1946–1972. Singapore: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dunning, Thad. 2008. Crude Democracy: Natural Resource Wealth and Political Regimes. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Peter B. 1995. Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fearon, James D., and Laitin, David D.. 2003. “Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War.” American Political Science Review 97(1): 75–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finer, Samuel E. 1962. The Man on Horseback: The Role of the Military in Politics. London: Pall Mall.Google Scholar
Freeman, John R., and Quinn, Dennis P.. 2012. “The Economic Origins of Democracy Reconsidered.” American Political Science Review 106(1): 58–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frieden, Jeffry. 1991. Debt, Development, and Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara, Wright, Joseph, and Frantz, Erica. 2014. “Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions: A New Data Set.” Perspectives on Politics 12(2): 313–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gleditsch, Kristian, and Ward, Michael D.. 2006. “Diffusion and the International Context of Democratization.” International Organization 60(4): 911–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haber, Stephen, and Menaldo, Victor. 2011. “Do Natural Resources Fuel Authoritarianism? A Reappraisal of the Resource Curse.” American Political Science Review 105(1): 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadenius, Axel, and Teorell, Jan. 2005. “Assessing Alternative Indices of Democracy.” C&M Working Papers 6, IPSA. Available at: http://www.conceptsmethods.org/Files/WorkingPaper/PC%206%20Hadenius%20Teorell.pdf).Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan, and Kaufman, Robert. 2012. “Inequality and Regime Change: Democratic Transitions and the Stability of Democratic Rule.” American Political Science Review 106(3): 495–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton-Hart, Natasha. 2002. Asian States, Asian Bankers: Central Banking in Southeast Asia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Herbst, Jeffrey. 2000. States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Heston, Alan, Summers, Robert, and Aten, Bettina. 2011. “Penn World Table Version 7.0.” Center for International Comparisons of Production, Income and Prices at the University of Pennsylvania, Nov May 2011. Available online at: https://pwt.sas.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt_index.php (accessed August 15, 2013).Google Scholar
Houle, Christian. 2009. “Inequality and Democracy: Why Inequality Harms Consolidation but Does Not Affect Democratization.” World Politics 61(4): 589–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P. 1968. Political Order in Changing Societies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel P.. 1991. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Google Scholar
Janowitz, Morris. 1977. Military Institutions and Coercion in the Developing Nations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kier, Elizabeth. 1997. Imagining War: French and British Military Doctrine between the Wars. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Kohli, Atul. 2002. “State, Society and Development.” In State of the Discipline, ed. Katznelson, Ira and Milner, Helen. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Kohli, Atul.. 2004. State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laitin, David. 1985. “Hegemony and Religious Conflict: British Imperial Control and Political Cleavages in Yorubaland.” In Bringing the State Back In, ed. Evans, Peter, Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, and Skocpol, Theda. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lange, Matthew. 2009. Lineages of Despotism and Development: British Colonialism and State Power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Way, Lucan A.. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lieberman, Evan S. 2003. Race and Regionalism in the Politics of Taxation in Brazil and South Africa. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linz, Juan J., and Stepan, Alfred. 1996. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Londregan, John B., and Poole, Keith T.. 1990. “Poverty, the Coup Trap, and the Seizure of Executive Power.” World Politics 42(2): 151–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mann, Michael. 1988. States, War and Capitalism. New York: Blackwell.Google Scholar
McClendon, Gwyneth H. 2012. “The Politics of Envy and Esteem in Two Democracies.” Doctoral Dissertation. Princeton University.Google Scholar
McCormick, John P. 2011. Machiavellian Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCoy, Alfred. 1993. Closer than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Meltzer, A. H., and Richards, S. F.. 1981. “A Rational Theory of the Size of Government.” Journal of Political Economy 89(October): 914–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Migdal, Joel. 1988. Strong Societies and Weak States: State-Society Relations and State Capabilities in the Third World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Moore, Barrington. 1966. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston: Beacon.Google Scholar
Moore, Mick. 1998. “Death without Taxes: Democracy, State Capacity, and Aid Dependence in the Fourth World.” In The Democratic Development State: Politics and Institutional Design, ed. Robinson, Mark and White, Gordon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Morrison, Kevin. 2009. “Oil, Nontax Revenue, and the Redistributional Foundations of Regime Stability.” International Organization 63(Winter): 107–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordlinger, Eric. 1977. Soldiers in Politics: Military Coups and Governments. New York: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
O’Donnell, Guillermo, and Schmitter, Philippe C.. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions about Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Posen, Barry. 1984. The Sources of Military Doctrine: France, Britain, and Germany Between the World Wars. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Powell, Jonathan. 2011. “Determinates of the Attempting and Outcome of Coups D’Etat.” Working Paper, University of Kentucky.Google Scholar
Przeworski, Adam. 2009. “Conquered or Granted? A History of Suffrage Extensions.” British Journal of Political Science 39(2): 291–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Przeworski, Adam, and Limongi, Fernando. 1997. “Modernization: Theories and Facts.” World Politics 49(January): 155–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roosa, John. 2006. Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30th Movement and Suharto’s Coup d’Etat in Indonesia. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Ross, Michael L. 2001. “Does Oil Hinder Democracy?” World Politics 53(April): 325–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, Stephens, Evelyne Huber, and Stephens, John D.. 1992. Capitalist Development and Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Schiller, Jim. 1996. Developing Jepara: State and Society in New Order Indonesia. Clayton, Australia: Monash Asia Institute.Google Scholar
Shah, Anwar, and Whalley, John. 1991. “Tax Analysis of Developing Countries: An Alternative View.” World Bank Economic Review 5, 535–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skocpol, Theda. 1979. States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slater, Dan. 2010. Ordering Power: Contentious Politics and Authoritarian Leviathans in Southeast Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Benjamin. 2007. Hard Times in the Lands of Plenty: Oil Politics in Iran and Indonesia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Snyder, James M. and Kramer, Gerald H. 1988. “Fairness, Self-Interest and the Politics of the Progressive Income Tax. Journal of Public Economics 36(2), 197–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soifer, Hillel David. 2013. “State Power and the Economic Origins of Democracy.” Studies in Comparative International Development 48(1): 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stene, Edwin O., and Waldby, Odell. 1955. “Administration of Public Revenues.” In Public Administration in the Philippines, ed. Stene, Edwin O.., Manila: University of the Philippines Institute of Public Administration.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 1992. Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 990–1992. Cambridge: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Tilly, Charles. 2007. Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Timmons, Jeffrey F. 2005. “The Fiscal Contract: States, Taxes, and Public Services.” World Politics 57(July): 530–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tusalem, Rollin F. 2010. “Determinants of Coup d’Etat Events 1970–90: The Role of Property Rights Protection.” International Political Science Review 31(3): 346–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uppal, J. S. 1986. Taxation in Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press.Google Scholar
United Nations. 2013. National Accounts Main Aggregates Database: Percentage Distribution (Shares) of GDP. Available online at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/dnllist.asp (accessed December 20, 2013).Google Scholar
World Bank. World Development Indicators 1960–2012. Available online at: http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators (accessed August 15, 2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Slater supplementary material

Slater supplementary material

Download Slater supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 227.8 KB