successful transitions, and secondly, how were such rapid transitions possible
when there appeared to be little or no cultural experience or preparedness for
democracy? The mere fact that such questions were asked indicates that
democracy had come to seem a rare and delicate plant requiring careful
nurturing. The answer seems to be that in a world where existing stable
democracies exist as models, the creation of a new one when an existing
authoritarian system can no longer successfully repress its people, is a matter of
rational calculating. Although the stories of transitions differ in detail, they
have one thing in common. Various potential leadership groups, often includ-
ing remnants of the old order, come together and agree on institutions which
satisfy a sort of ‘second best’ rule of politics. The second best solution is limited
government where no group can wield dictatorial power. In a situation of
extreme uncertainty, where the only certainty is that repression has ceased to
work, the second best becomes everyone’s rational choice. Whether, however,
such purely rationally supported institutions can continue for long, and can
survive shocks and, particularly, economic challenges is another question. It
seems likely that the conditions for maintaining and developing democracy
may be very different from, and harder to achieve than, the conditions for
creating it. It is for this reason that so much attention is now being paid to the
idea ofcivil society.
Dependency Theory
Dependency theory was a popular radical critique of Western capitalist nations
in their relations with theThird Worldduring the 1960s and 1970s, and still
has its advocates. It derives from a theory of economic imperialism, and is also
used as a critique of foreign aid programmes. The basic idea is that major
capitalist powers like the USA and leading members of theEuropean Union
have not really given up their powers ofcolonialism, but in fact exercise
enormous political control over Latin American, African and Asian countries.
However, they do this now by the use of economic pressure and by exploiting
their superior market position to extract unfair advantage in international
trade. The theory holds that as most of the finance for industrial and
agricultural development in the Third World has to come from the money
markets in the developed capitalist states, that development is tied to the
economic interests of the West.
The theory is even taken by some to the point that outright foreign aid gifts
are suspect, because the funding is simply used to develop Third World
economies in such a way that they remain totally dependent on markets in
theFirst World. While it is clear that economic power is vital, and that the
Western investors will try to maximize their advantage, it is far from clear that
poor and over-populated countries have any alternative, at least in the short
Dependency Theory