today, south korea has become a successful pattern for less- developed countries. this article attempts to explain its successful experience in economic development in the framework of pattern of non-democratic developmental state. in this pattern developed by adrian leftwich, the main focus is on political-sociological context affecting economic development. the main characteristics of develop...

This paper analyzes the economic foundations of a non-democratic political regime, where the ruling bureaucracy captures rents through collective control over state property and job assignment. The model developed here yields the equilibrium in the “political labor market,” where the ruling bureaucracy buys services and political support of activists recruited from the working population. The u...

We present findings that document one way in which a society’s culture can affect political outcomes. Examining an annual panel of democratic countries over six decades, we show that severe economic downturns are more likely to cause political turnover in countries that have lower levels of generalized trust. We find no such relationship in non-democratic countries or on irregular leader turnov...

Conventional wisdom holds that high levels of system support serve as an attitudinal barrier to democratic breakdown. In unconsolidated democracies, however, where democratic norms are regularly violated, the authors hypothesize that a healthy dose of political skepticism toward the political system, neither extreme rejection nor uncritical support of the system, would be associated with greate...

An important component of political polarization in the United States is the degree to which ordinary people perceive political polarization. We used over 30 years of national survey data from the American National Election Study to examine how the public perceives political polarization between the Democratic and Republican parties and between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates....

The following study provides a close scrutiny of the conduct of Punjabi newspapers during the Punjab Assembly Elections of 2007 and demonstrates, with the help of comparative empirical analysis of three newspapers (namely, Ajit, Jagbani and Punjabi Tribune), that the media has diluted and compromised its role as a watchdog of democracy. The study brings out that several factors have come togeth...

Leader changes induce changes in the pattern of protection and of filings of disputes at the WTO. Additionally, political institutions play an important modifying role. We offer a model that explains changes in trade policy and dispute onset induced by shifts in the sectors represented in government when leaders change. Democratic leaders are more likely to initiate WTO disputes than autocrats....

Formal political institutions have been assigned two roles in democratization theorizing: as contingent effects of strategic interaction and as predictable bases for democratic consolidation. These roles might be reconciled if we assume that institutions become persistent once in place. But patterns of behavior surrounding these institutions do not appear to conform to the expectations of path ...

We present findings that document one way in which a society’s culture can affect political outcomes. Examining an annual panel of democratic countries over six decades, we show that severe economic downturns are more likely to cause political turnover in countries that have lower levels of generalized trust. We find no such relationship in non-democratic countries or on irregular leader turnov...

1 It is something of an understatement to say that most Americans pay little attention to the world of politics. Survey after survey has shown that Americans are often at a loss to relate basic facts about the players, issues, and rules of the game that structure American political life (Delli Carpini & Keeter, 1996). For instance, when asked whether the Republican or Democratic party was gener...