Capitalism, Development, and Democracy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Capitalism is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for democracy. This relation is historically contingent. It is true that democracy tends to prevail in the most developed capitalist countries. But this is not because capitalist development breeds democracy. The reason is that once democracy is present in wealthy societies, everyone has too much at stake to risk a struggle for dictatorship.

Keywords

• Capitalism
• democracy
• historical conditions
• economic development