The Case for Democracy

Herbert H. Werlin
Additional contact information
Herbert H. Werlin: Herbert H. Werlin is a retired professor from the University of Maryland. [email: werlin@crosslink.net]

Journal of Developing Societies, 2009, vol. 25, issue 3, 339-370

Abstract: Michael Mandelbaum’s Democracy’s Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World’s Most Popular Form of Government (2007) provides a valuable analysis of the success of democracy in the modern world but fails to adequately deal with remaining questions having to do with: (i) the definition of democracy; (ii) the linkage between democracy and economic development and (iii) the importance of public administration. Political Elasticity (PE) theory is used to explain the im- portance of public administration, particularly the linkage between effective decentralization and centralization. To illustrate the usefulness of PE theory, several comparative case studies (China and India; Bangladesh and Vietnam) are introduced in regard to the question of why is it that authoritarian states (for example, China and Vietnam) are sometimes more successful in economic development, particularly in raising standards of living, than their more democratic counterparts. Finally, at the conclusion, the question is raised about the relationship of democracy to corruption. In so doing, Lord Acton’s provocative assertion, ‘power tends to corrupt and absolute power, to corrupt absolutely’, is addressed, including a comparison of authoritarian Singapore and democratic Jamaica, suggesting: (i) that political power, if persuasive, is not necessarily corruptive; (ii) liberal or partisan democracy tends to corrupt and lawless democracy, to corrupt absolutely and (iii) authoritarian regimes may recognize that controlling corruption is essential for their legitimacy and economic prosperity.

Keywords: democracy; elections; rule of law; economic development; Alexander Pope; Political Elasticity Theory; Singapore and Jamaica (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0169796X0902500303 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jodeso:v:25:y:2009:i:3:p:339-370

DOI: 10.1177/0169796X0902500303

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Developing Societies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().