Information, Democracy and Autocracy

Economic Transparency and Political (In)Stability

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Social Science, Business & Finance
Cover of the book Information, Democracy and Autocracy by James R. Hollyer, B. Peter Rosendorff, James Raymond Vreeland, Cambridge University Press
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Author: James R. Hollyer, B. Peter Rosendorff, James Raymond Vreeland ISBN: 9781108356336
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: August 31, 2018
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: James R. Hollyer, B. Peter Rosendorff, James Raymond Vreeland
ISBN: 9781108356336
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: August 31, 2018
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Advocates for economic development often call for greater transparency. But what does transparency really mean? What are its consequences? This breakthrough book demonstrates how information impacts major political phenomena, including mass protest, the survival of dictatorships, democratic stability, as well as economic performance. The book introduces a new measure of a specific facet of transparency: the dissemination of economic data. Analysis shows that democracies make economic data more available than do similarly developed autocracies. Transparency attracts investment and makes democracies more resilient to breakdown. But transparency has a dubious consequence under autocracy: political instability. Mass-unrest becomes more likely, and transparency can facilitate democratic transition - but most often a new despotic regime displaces the old. Autocratic leaders may also turn these threats to their advantage, using the risk of mass-unrest that transparency portends to unify the ruling elite. Policy-makers must recognize the trade-offs transparency entails.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Advocates for economic development often call for greater transparency. But what does transparency really mean? What are its consequences? This breakthrough book demonstrates how information impacts major political phenomena, including mass protest, the survival of dictatorships, democratic stability, as well as economic performance. The book introduces a new measure of a specific facet of transparency: the dissemination of economic data. Analysis shows that democracies make economic data more available than do similarly developed autocracies. Transparency attracts investment and makes democracies more resilient to breakdown. But transparency has a dubious consequence under autocracy: political instability. Mass-unrest becomes more likely, and transparency can facilitate democratic transition - but most often a new despotic regime displaces the old. Autocratic leaders may also turn these threats to their advantage, using the risk of mass-unrest that transparency portends to unify the ruling elite. Policy-makers must recognize the trade-offs transparency entails.

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