Democratization in Confucian East Asia: Citizen Politics in China ...

Chapter 2

Bringing People Back In

Two major arguments have long dominated the study of democratization: a structural argument and an actor-centered argument. The structural argument looks at socioeconomic conditions deemed favorable for the rise of democracy. Most notably, modernization theorists argue that socioeconomic developments drive democracy. As the economy and society become diverse and dynamic, an authoritarian government cannot effectively manage all the challenges. It must give way to an open system, governing with the consensus of the governed and with the institutionalized participation of the citizens. The social requisites for democracy, as argued by various studies, include a relatively high level of economic development, literacy and education, industrialization, and communication, among others (Lipset, 1959). The actor-centered approach is most notably represented by the “transition school,” which looks at democratization as a matter of elite operations.