| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This essay examines whether developing countries with competitive multiparty
democracies may be just as capable of sustaining rapid economic growth
as single-party states. It begins with a literature review identifying political
stability and the ability to mobilize labor and capital production inputs as key
factors behind sustained rapid growth. It then develops the hypothesis that under
certain conditions, multiparty democracies may be strong in these dimensions,
but ceteris paribus, single-party states are likely to have an advantage. I test
this hypothesis by exploring historical trends in rapid growth over the last five
decades. Statistical regression analysis confirms that most sustained highgrowth regimes have not been competitive multiparty democracies. On a more
optimistic note, however, the number of high-growth multiparty democracies
increased significantly during the period between 2000 and 2009, signaling a
possible breakthrough in the twenty-first century.
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