Liberalism, Democracy and Development

by Sylvia Chan

• ISBN13: 9780521004985
• ISBN10: 0521004985
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Many commentators have assumed a close connection between liberal democracy and economic development. Sylvia Chan questions this assumption and suggests a new theoretical framework, in which liberal democracy is 'decomposed' into economic, civil and political dimensions that can be combined in different ways, allowing for a range of 'institutional matrices'. She then shows, in a case study of Japan and the Asian newly industrialising countries, how these seemingly less democratic countries have enjoyed a unique mix of economic, civil and political liberties which have encouraged economic development, without the need to share the institutional structures and cultural values of the West. Chan's model therefore provides a re-evaluation of the institutional capacities needed to sustain a competitive economy in a globalising world, and develops a more sophisticated understanding of the democracy-development connection.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
List of abbreviations	ix
Introduction	1	(9)
The question: is `liberal democracy' good for economic development?	10	(27)
The context	13	(9)
The pro-`liberal democracy' and anti-`liberal democracy' camps: situating the democracy-development debate within the general debate about `liberal democracy'	22	(5)
Focusing on the democracy-development connection	27	(3)
Focusing on Asia	30	(7)
Part I The present context of democratisation and decomposing `liberal democracy'	37	(76)
Decomposing `liberal democracy'	39	(18)
`Economic', `civil' and `political' liberties	39	(5)
The three-fold architecture	44	(8)
A summary of points	52	(1)
Advantages of the new framework	53	(4)
Democratisation: between the `liberal' and the `democratic'	57	(56)
The possibilities, limits and conditions of democracy: the three stages of theorising on democratisation and the five factors	59	(18)
Thinking in terms of `converging' and `diverging' forces and noting their effect on the `liberal' and `democratic' content	77	(22)
Further differentiating these forces	99	(14)
Part II The democracy-development debate: old problem, new thinking	113	(124)
Constructing an empirical explanation	117	(13)
Macro vs micro	117	(8)
Using cases to explain	125	(2)
Using the Asian cases to explain the democracy-development connection	127	(3)
The democracy-development debate reconsidered	130	(61)
Some preliminary points	130	(2)
The `goodness' of `liberal democracy' for economic development	132	(22)
The counter-argument: `trade-off'	154	(34)
Between the two sides	188	(3)
Reconstructing an explanation of the Asian success	191	(39)
Setting the agenda I: towards a more inclusionary institutionalism	191	(8)
Setting the agenda II: a different mix of liberties and a different set of institutions--institutionalisation of `economic', `civil' and `political' liberties in Japan and the East Asian NICs	199	(13)
Setting the agenda III: achieving `security', `stability' and `openness and information' in Japan and the East Asian NICs	212	(7)
Towards a wider conception of state strength	219	(9)
The democracy-development relationship in the Asian case	228	(2)
Conclusion: moving beyond the question of `liberal democracy'	230	(7)
Summarising	230	(5)
Towards a new Asian model?	235	(2)
Bibliography	237	(34)
Index	271