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> The hope was this leniency would result in a market economy that would, in turn, produce strong institutions and lay the path towards liberal democracy. This

> The hope was this leniency would result in a market economy that would, in turn, produce strong institutions and lay the path towards liberal democracy. This logic completely baffled me. I think the democracy of western nations steadily declines after the peak of 70-80s? While the economy keeps growing.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> This logic completely baffled me The argument that market economies beget democracy was popularly espoused in Francis Fukuyama's The End of History [1]. The Soviet Union collapsed following glasnost [2], itself a response to the West's economic outperformance. The USSR's constituents were replaced by things that looked like fledgling democracies (e.g. Poland [3], Ukraine, the Baltics, East Germany, et cetera). The West's thesis was wrong. Market economies do not cause democracy. But that was far from obvious in the 1990s. If this baffles you, I suggest reading up on the historical, economic and political context. > I think the democracy of western nations steadily declines after the peak of 70-80s? This view is not supported by the data [4]. The democratic retreat is a recent trend: "2017 was the 12th consecutive year of decline in global freedom" [5]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Las... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost [3] https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RCitZyd7QlUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=democracy+and+market+economy&ots=9oawCCM40B&sig=WSWupyuz2rGXvUGnMeS4HA26sfg#v=onepage&q=democracy%20and%20market%20economy&f=false https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RCitZyd7QlUC&oi=... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polity_data_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polity_data_series [5] https://freedomhouse.org/article/democracy-crisis-freedom-house-releases-freedom-world-2018 https://freedomhouse.org/article/democracy-crisis-freedom-ho...
- SubiculumCode 9y ago
  To be fair, I doubt he was baffled by people believing the thesis, or about the origins of the thesis, but by the thesis itself. Of course grand parent may have believed it in the 80's and 90's. Many did.

JumpCrisscross 9y ago

> This logic completely baffled me The argument that market economies beget democracy was popularly espoused in Francis Fukuyama's The End of History [1]. The Soviet Union collapsed following glasnost [2], itself a response to the West's economic outperformance. The USSR's constituents were replaced by things that looked like fledgling democracies (e.g. Poland [3], Ukraine, the Baltics, East Germany, et cetera). The West's thesis was wrong. Market economies do not cause democracy. But that was far from obvious in the 1990s. If this baffles you, I suggest reading up on the historical, economic and political context. > I think the democracy of western nations steadily declines after the peak of 70-80s? This view is not supported by the data [4]. The democratic retreat is a recent trend: "2017 was the 12th consecutive year of decline in global freedom" [5]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Las... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnost [3] https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RCitZyd7QlUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=democracy+and+market+economy&ots=9oawCCM40B&sig=WSWupyuz2rGXvUGnMeS4HA26sfg#v=onepage&q=democracy%20and%20market%20economy&f=false https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RCitZyd7QlUC&oi=... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polity_data_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polity_data_series [5] https://freedomhouse.org/article/democracy-crisis-freedom-house-releases-freedom-world-2018 https://freedomhouse.org/article/democracy-crisis-freedom-ho...

SubiculumCode 9y ago
To be fair, I doubt he was baffled by people believing the thesis, or about the origins of the thesis, but by the thesis itself. Of course grand parent may have believed it in the 80's and 90's. Many did.