Has China’s Economic Development Led to the Democratization of China?
Dr.Sungmin Cho has published a new article titled “Does China’s Case Falsify Modernization Theory? Interim Assessment,” in the Journal of Contemporary China. Using the political science theory of modernization, Dr. Cho revisits the question of whether China's economic development has brought democratic changes in China or not. While the modernization theory suggests that economic development should lead to democratization, many analysts have claimed that China has not made democratic progress at all, despite its economic growth. By comparing these two competing perspectives and examining the evidence behind each assessment, Dr.Cho argues that there has been a certain degree of democratic [...]