Moderni zation refers to a model of a progressive transition from a premodern or traditional to a modern s ociety. Democracy and economic development adam przeworski. This groundbreaking project brings together specially commissioned entries written and edited by an international team of the worlds best scholars and teachers. Theories and facts, world politics 49 january 1997. The basic assumption of this theory, in any of its versions, is that there is one general end page 157 process of which democratization is but the final stage. Modernization theory is a theory used to explain the process of modernization that a nation goes through as it transitions from a traditional society to a modern one.
The endogenous explanation is a modernization theory. Modernization consists of a gradual differentiation and specialization of social structures. Modernization theory studies the process of social evolution and the development of. The theory argues that societies develop in fairly predictable stages through which they become increasingly complex. I examine the mutual relation between political regimes and economic development. Modernizatio n the ory is used to explain the process of moderniz ation within socie ties. Modernization theory political science bibliographies. The modernization hypothesis was formulated in the midtwentieth century in the midst of specific economic and sociopolitical conditions. An analysis of regime dynamics shows that while the paths to democracy are varied, once established for whatever reasons, democracies survive in developed countries. For now, we consider the population of countries as fixed, but see section iv.
Drawing on modernization theory, it considers whether democracy is more likely to emerge in a country that modernizes economically. Modernization theory originated from the ideas of german sociologist max weber 18641920, which provided the ba sis for the mode rnization paradigm developed by harvard sociologist. Democracy and economic development adam przeworski department of politics new york university. Modernization, modernization theory and its criticism. Since then, both societies and representations of their. Democratization in the late twentieth century norman. Modernization theory emerged in the 1950s as an explanation of how the industrial societies of north america and western europe developed. There are two levels of analysis in classical modernization theory. The basic assumption of this theory, in any of its versions, is that there is one gen 5 this is not quite true of our data set, since different countries enter and exit the sample at differ ent moments. Modernization theory focuses specifically on a type of modernization thought to have originated in europe during the 17th century, which brought social mores and technological achievements into a new epoch. International communication modernization presented by. This article examines the link between economic development and democracy. Modernization theory revisited 1988 comparative politics. But his theory of bureaucratic authoritarianism captured the imagination of scholars around the world, who treated it as applicable almost everywhere.
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