Transforming Cities: Does Urbanization Promote Democratic Change?

Edward Glaeser and Bryce Steinberg

No 22860, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Could urbanization lead to more democracy and better government for the mega-cities of the developing world? This paper reviews three channels through which urbanization may generate political change. First, cities facilitate coordinated public action and enhance the effectiveness of uprisings. Second, cities may increase the demand for democracy relative to dictatorship. Third, cities may engender the development of “civic capital” which enables citizens to improve their own institutions. History and empirics provide significant support for the first channel, but less evidence exists for the others. Urbanization may improve the quality of poor-world governments, but more research is needed to draw that conclusion.

JEL-codes: N90 O18 R00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pol and nep-ure
Note: PE POL
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published as Edward L. Glaeser & Bryce Millett Steinberg, 2017. "Transforming cities: does urbanization promote democratic change?," Regional Studies, vol 51(1), pages 58-68.

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Journal Article: Transforming cities: does urbanization promote democratic change? (2017)
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