Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-gs9qr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T06:58:38.219Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changing Mass Priorities: The Link between Modernization and Democracy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2010

Ronald Inglehart  and
Christian Welzel
Ronald Inglehart
Affiliation:
World Values Surveys
Christian Welzel
Affiliation:
Jacobs University, Bremen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A revised version of modernization theory implies that certain cultural variables (deeply-instilled attitudes among the public of a society) play an important role in democratization—and considerable empirical evidence supports this claim. Nevertheless, these variables are rarely used in econometric analysis of democratization. Why? One important reason is a tendency to view subjective mass orientations as volatile, relatively “soft” data. Analyzing data from many Large-N comparative survey projects, this article demonstrates that: (1) certain mass attitudes that are linked with modernization constitute attributes of given societies that are fully as stable as standard social indicators; (2) when treated as national-level variables, these attitudes seem to have predictive power comparable to that of widely-used social indicators in explaining important societal-level variables such as democracy; (3) national-level mean scores are a legitimate social indicator; and (4) one gets maximum analytic leverage by analyzing data from the full range of societies. We find numerous strong correlations between these subjective indicators and important societal attributes such as democracy, which suggest that causal linkages exist—but we do not attempt to demonstrate them here. Previous research has tested some of these linkages, finding support for causal interpretations, but conclusive tests of all the linkages shown here would require several book-length treatments. We briefly review some of the evidence supporting the conclusion that modernization leads to enduring mass attitudinal changes that are conducive to democracy.

Information

Type
Reflections
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 551 - 567
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2000. “Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Growth, Inequality and Democracy in Historical Perspective.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 115(4): 1167–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2001. “A Theory of Political Transitions.” American Economic Review 91(4): 938–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A.. 2006. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Barro, Robert J., and McCleary, Rachel M.. 2003. “Religion and Economic Growth across Countries.” American Sociological Review 68(5): 760–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boix, Carles. 2003. Democracy and Redistribution. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deutsch, Karl W. 1964. “Social Mobilization and Political Development.” American Political Science Review 55(3): 493–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haerpfer, Christian, Bernhagen, Patrick, Inglehart, Ronald, and Welzel, Christian, eds. 2009. Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 1997. Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Baker, Wayne. 2000. Modernization, Cultural Change and the Persistence of Traditional Values. American Sociological Review 65(1): 19–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Norris, Pippa. 2003. Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Welzel, Christian. 2005. Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Welzel, Christian. 2009. “How Development Leads to Democracy: What We Know about Modernization.” Foreign Affairs March/April: 33–48.Google Scholar
Lipset, Seymour M. 1959. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy.” American Political Science Review 53(1): 69–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, Barrington Jr.. 1966. The Social Origins of Democracy and Dictatorship: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World. Boston: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 2009. “The Globalization of Comparative Public Opinion Research.” In The Sage Handbook of Comparative Politics, eds. Landman, Todd and Robinson, Neil. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa, and Inglehart, Ronald. 2004. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Przeworski, Adam, Alvarez, Michael, Cheibub, Jose, and Limongi, Fernando. 2000. Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World, 1950–1990. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, James A. 2006. Economic Development and Democracy. Annual Review of Political Science 9: 503–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, William S. 1950. “Ecological Correlations and the Behavior of Individuals.” American Sociological Review 15(2): 351–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, Shalom H. 2003. “Mapping and Interpreting Cultural Differences around the World.” In Comparing Cultures, Dimensions of Culture in a Comparative Perspective, eds. Vinken, Henk, Soeters, Joseph, and Ester, Peter. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.Google Scholar
Schwartz, Shalom H. 2006. “A Theory of Cultural Value Orientations: Explication and Applications.” Comparative Sociology 5(2–3): 137–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seligson, Mitchell. 2002. “The Renaissance of Political Culture or the Renaissance of the Ecological Fallacy?” Comparative Politics 34(3): 273–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanhanen, Tatu, ed. 1997. Prospects of Democracy: A Study of 172 Countries. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Welzel, Christian, Inglehart, Ronald, and Klingemann, Hans-Dieter. 2003. “The Theory of Human Development: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.” European Journal of Political Research 42(2): 341–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welzel, Christian. 2007. “Are Levels of Democracy Influenced by Mass Attitudes?” International Political Science Review 28(4): 397–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welzel, Christian, and Inglehart, Ronald. 2008. “Democratization as Human Empowerment.” Journal of Democracy 19(1): 126–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Welzel, Christian, and Inglehart, Ronald. 2009. “Political Culture, Mass Beliefs and Value Change.” In Democratization, eds. Haerpfer, Christian et al. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Zak, Paul J., and Knack, Stephen. 2001. “Trust and Growth.” The Economic Journal 111(2): 295–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Ingelhart and Welzel supplementary material

Explanatory File

Download Ingelhart and Welzel supplementary material(File)
File 70.1 KB
Supplementary material: File

Ingelhart and Welzel supplementary material

Differences between the country scores-Figure 1

Download Ingelhart and Welzel supplementary material(File)
File 41 KB