An interactive assessment of democracy: Economic and cultural determinants of democratic development
Abstract
As democracy has become a popular form of governance, questions as to how to best develop democracies have been raised. Theories based on economic and cultural development have separately provided the academic community with interesting findings. However, theories based on economic determinants and cultural determinants give results that do not answer the question of how to develop democracies in a thoroughly satisfying manner, when approaching the question separately. This thesis tests the two methods separately and then integrates the two methods using interaction terms. By doing this we can see if economic development leads to democratic development, if cultural development does the same, and what effect one has on the other. The results show that economic development does lead to democratic development. However, culture is found be significant only in specific circumstances and has no noticeable effect on how economic development affects democratic development.
Subject Area
International Relations|Political science
Recommended Citation
Gonzalez, Won Ha, "An interactive assessment of democracy: Economic and cultural determinants of democratic development" (2011). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI1495271.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI1495271