Abstract
This brief note revisits the empirical relation between economic inequality and instances of democratization. We argue that economic inequality may be an explanatory factor only following macroeconomic downturns. Our point generalizes – empirical peace scientists examining the likelihood of major political events should consider the possibility that explanatory structural factors may have heterogeneous impacts across macroeconomic cycles.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to an anonymous referee and the editor for their critical comments.
References
Acemoglu, D., Robinson, J., (2001), A Theory of Political Transitions, American Economic Review, vol. 91, no. 4, pp. 938–963.Search in Google Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Robinson, J., (2006), The Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.10.1017/CBO9780511510809Search in Google Scholar
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., Robinson, J., Yared, P., (2008), Income and Democracy, American Economic Review, vol. 98, no. 3, pp. 808–842.Search in Google Scholar
Barro, R., (1999), Determinants of Democracy, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 107, no. 6, pp. 158–183.Search in Google Scholar
Barron, M., Miguel, E., Satyanath, S., (2014), Economic Shocks and Democratization in Africa, Political Science Research and Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 33–47.Search in Google Scholar
Bazzi, S., Blattman,C., (2013), Economic Shocks and Conflict: Evidence From Commodity Prices, Columbia University Working Paper.10.2139/ssrn.2268061Search in Google Scholar
Burke, P., Leigh, A.. (2010), Do Output Contractions Trigger Democratic Change? American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, vol. 2, pp. 124–157.Search in Google Scholar
Cervellati, M., Jung,F., Sunde, U., Vischer, T., (2014), Income and Democracy: A Comment, American Economic Review, vol. 104, no. 2, pp. 707–719.Search in Google Scholar
Cheibub, J., Gandhi, A., Vreeland, J., (2010), Democracy and Dictatorship Revisited, Public Choice, vol. 143, no. 1–2, pp. 67–101.Search in Google Scholar
Dorsch, M., Maarek, P., (2014), Recessions, Inequality, and Democratization, THEMA Working Paper.10.1515/peps-2014-0025Search in Google Scholar
Freedom House, (2013), Freedom of the World and Freedom of the Press, Freedom House: Washington D.C.Search in Google Scholar
Freeman, J., Quinn, D., (2012), The Economic Origins of Democracy Reconsidered, American Political Science Review, vol. 106, no. 1, pp. 58–80.Search in Google Scholar
Gassebner, M., Lamla, M., Vreeland, J., (2013), Extreme Bounds of Democracy, Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 171–197.Search in Google Scholar
Hadenius, A., Teorell, J., (2005), Assessing Alternative Indices of Democracy, C&M Working Papers 6, IPSA.Search in Google Scholar
Haggard, S., Kaufman, R., (2012), Inequality and Regime Change: Democratic Transitions and The Stability of Democratic Rule, American Political Science Review, vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 495–516.Search in Google Scholar
Houle, C., (2009), Inequality and Democracy: Why Inequality Harms Consolidation But Does Not Affect Democratization, World Politics, vol. 61, no. 4, pp. 589–622.Search in Google Scholar
Marshall, M., Jaggers, K., Gurr, T., (2010), Polity IV Project: Dataset Users’ Manual, Center for Systemic Peace, Arlington.Search in Google Scholar
Meltzer, A.H., Richard, S.F., (1981), A Rational Theory of The Size of Government, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 89, pp. 914–927.Search in Google Scholar
Roberts, K.W., (1977), Voting Over Income Tax Schedules, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 8, pp. 329–340.Search in Google Scholar
Romer, T., (1975), Individual Welfare, Majority Voting, and The Properties of a Linear Income Tax, Journal of Public Economics, vol. 4, pp. 163–185.Search in Google Scholar
Solt, F., (2009), Standardising the World Income Inequality Database, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 90, no. 2, pp. 231–242. SWIID Version 4.0, September 2013.Search in Google Scholar
Teorell, J., (2010), Determinants of Democratization: Explaining Regime Change in the World, 1972–2006, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.10.1017/CBO9780511762727Search in Google Scholar
Teorell, J., Charron, N., Dahlberg, S., Holberg, S., Rothstein, B., Sundin, P., Svensson, R., (2013), The Quality of Government Dataset, version 20 December 2013, University of Gothenburg, The Quality of Government Institute, Gothenburg, Sweden.Search in Google Scholar
World Bank, (2013), World Development Indicators, The World Bank Group, Washington DC.Search in Google Scholar
© 2014 by De Gruyter