Democratization as the Growth of Freedom
The Human Development Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6277928 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christian Welzel (0000-0002-1562-3580, International University), Ronald Inglehart (0000-0002-5620-3363, University of Michigan) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 313-343 |
| Publication date | 2005-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Japanese Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-1099 • E-ISSN: 1474-0060 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1468109905001933 |
| OpenAlex | W1979922190 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
This article examines democratization as an aspect of human development where: human development is meant to proceed as people attain greater autonomous choice in shaping their lives. Democratization promotes this process in so far as it institutionalizes freedom of choice based on civil and political liberties. This perspective allows one to integrate modernization-based explanations and civic culture-based explanations of democratization under a common theoretical umbrella. For both types of explanations reflect aspects of human development. Modernization provides human resources that increase people's capabilities to act in accordance with their autonomous choices; and the rise of a civic culture promotes liberty aspirations that increase people's emphasis on autonomous choices. Linked through their common focus on autonomous human choice, human resources and liberty aspirations provide overlapping sources of pressure for the growth of freedom. Within the limits set by the extent to which freedom is not yet present, human resources and liberty aspirations are conducive to the growth of political freedom in interchangeable ways. These hypotheses are tested against the massive wave of democratization processes that occurred from the 1980s to the 1990s, using data from 62 nations of the World Values Surveys. We find that democratization is driven by social forces that focus on the growth of autonomous human choice, reflecting human development. From this perspective, modernization-based and civic culture-based explanations of democratization are manifestations of the same theme: the expansion of autonomous human choice
Democracy · Democratization · Economic system · Economics · Human development (humanity · Human rights · Modernization theory · Perspective (graphical · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics
Perceived Freedom and its Sociological Effects
A civic bridge or a silo? Islam, religious affiliation, and civic engagement in rural Indonesia
Vietnam in the democratization process
Emancipative values and democracy
Soft Power, World System Dynamics, and Democratization
Explaining Support for Democracy in East Asia
Introduction to the special issue of International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Democracy without democratic values
Economic inclusion and social trust in Africa
Attitudes toward competing voting-right requirements
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2006 - 2024 (19) |
| Highly cited | No |