Poverty, Participation, and Democracy
A Global Perspective

Evidence from 24 countries shows that political attitudes and participation levels are unaffected by relative wealth.

Anirudh Krishna (Edited by)

9780521504454, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 August 2008

208 pages, 22 tables
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.7 cm, 0.46 kg

'This important collection of papers on the political attitudes of the poor in the developing world significantly recasts the debate on the contemporary relationship between poverty and democracy. Not only does it offer powerful new empirical evidence from Africa, Latin America and South Asia to reject the conventional wisdoms of modernization theory that the poor do not make good democrats, the book's analysis of the data, attention to nuances and probing questions will fundamentally change how scholars think about these issues.' Nicolas Van de Walle, Cornell University

For too long a conventional wisdom has held sway, suggesting that poor people in poor countries are not supportive of democracy and that democracies will be sustained only after a certain average level of wealth has been achieved. Evidence from 24 diverse countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America examined in this volume shows how poor people do not value democracy any less than their richer counterparts. Their faith in democracy is as high as that of other citizens, and they participate in democratic activities as much as their richer counterparts. Democracy is not likely to be unstable or unwelcome simply because poverty is widespread. Political attitudes and participation levels are unaffected by relative wealth. Education, rather than income or wealth, makes for more committed and engaged democratic citizens. Investments in education will make a critical difference for stabilizing and strengthening democracy.

1. Introduction: poor people and democracy Arnirudh Krishna
2. Poor people and democratic citizenship in Africa Michael Bratton
3. Do poor people care less for democracy? Testing individual-level assumptions with individual-level data from India Anirudh Krishna
4. Inequality and democracy in Latin America: individual and contextual effects of wealth on political participation John A. Booth and Mitchell A. Seligson
5. The poor and the viability of democracy Adam Przeworski
6. Conclusion: implications for policy and research Anirudh Krishna and John A. Booth.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Comparative politics [JPB]