Description
Book SynopsisIn this ambitious book Eva Bellin examines the dynamics of democratization in late-developing countries where the process has stalled. Bellin focuses on the pivotal role of social forces and particularly the reluctance of capital and labor to champion democratic transition, contrary to the expectations of political economists versed in earlier transitions. Bellin argues that the special conditions of late development, most notably the political paradoxes created by state sponsorship, fatally limit class commitment to democracy. In many developing countries, she contends, those who are empowered by capitalist industrialization become the allies of authoritarianism rather than the agents of democratic reform.
Bellin generates her propositions from close study of a singular case of stalled democracy: Tunisia. Capital and labor''s complicity in authoritarian relapse in that country poses a puzzle. The author''s explanation of that case is made more general through comparison with
Trade Review
Bellin's explicitly comparative, cross-national framework offers readily generalizable findings.
* Perspectives on Politics *
In a detailed study of Tunisia, Bellin finds that some governmental development schemes that explicitly encourage the private sector can better enable private capital and labor to defend their interests.... It contributes to our understanding of the relationship between development and democratization throughout the world.
* Foreign Affairs *
This is a smart, elegantly written book rich in empirical detail and theoretical argument.
* International Journal of Middle East Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Genesis of the Private Sector in Tunisia: The Logic of State Sponsorship2. The Developmental Paradox: Capital's Emergent Power and Autonomy3. A Checkered Alliance: State Sponsorship of Labor4. Influence under Constraint: The Trajectory of Labor's Power and Autonomy5. Capital and Labor: Agents of Democratization?6. Stalled Democracy in Comparative PerspectiveAppendix 1: Comparative Wage Rates in Forty-one Countries, 1990Appendix 2: Number of Strikes in Tunisia, 1970–1994Appendix 3: Organizational Structure of the Union Générale de Travailleurs TunisiensAppendix 4: Membership Numbers in the Union Générale de Travailleurs TunisiensNotes
References
Index
