Modernizing Institutions, Mobilization, and Third World Development

A Cross-National Study

Bibliographic Data

ID2209129
AuthorsJacques Delacroix, C C Ragin (0000-0001-7931-5408), Charles Ragin
Year1978
Volume84
Issue1
Pages123-150
Publication date1978-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/226743
OpenAlexW1984024273
LanguageEN
Citations received28
References cited19

Following the implications of modernization theory, we test via panel regression analysis several hypotheses relating modernizing institutions to the economic development of poor countries. Controlling for the economic constraints imposed by initial poverty and world-system position, we find that the school furthers economic development while exposure to the cinema hinders it. Further analysis shows that these effects vary by political context: in countries with mobilizing regimes, the positive contributions of the school are strong, while in countries with nonmobilizing regimes the adverse effects of the cinemaare strong. Following Portes, we argue that the cinema impedes economic growth by transmitting and promoting Western values incompatible with the social ethos that must accompany programs of national economic development. We discuss the relevance of our findings to the problem of social mobilization in poor countries

Context (archaeology) · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Ethos · Geography · Mobilization · Modernization theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Poverty · Relevance (law) · Resource mobilization · Social movement · Test (biology) · Corruption and Economic Development · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · World Systems and Global Transformations

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