[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-40009-en":3,"doc-seo-40009-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":83},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},40009,1374391975076,"Riley","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253ca4ec9f6853?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1783305029341752051",8,"Research & Report","The Democracy Advantage","The text develops an argument that democracies improve social and economic outcomes in poor countries more effectively than authoritarian governments. It uses a ship-and-raft metaphor to contrast the stability of democracy with the hidden dangers that sink autocratic systems. The discussion frames decades of academic and policy support for dictatorships as rooted in Cold War concerns and claims that democracy causes stagnation and unrest. It then addresses China’s rapid authoritarian-led growth, arguing that its performance—though complex—highlights how exceptional and fragile development can be under autocratic rule, setting up an examination of China’s economic contours.","CHAPTER 1 Exposing a 50-Year-Old Myth  \nDictatorship is like a big proud ship—steaming away across the ocean with a great hulk and powerful engines driving it. It’s going fast and strong and looks like nothing could stop it. What happens? Your fine ship strikes something—under the surface. Maybe it’s a mine or a reef, maybe it’s a torpedo or an iceberg. And your wonderful ship sinks! Now take democracy. It’s like riding on a raft, a rickety raft that was put together in a hurry. We get tossed about on the waves, it’s bad going, and our feet are always wet. But that raft doesn’t sink . . . It’s the raft that will get to the shore at last.1  \nA Yankee Businesman in New Hampshire  \nThis book makes the case that democracy does a better job raising living standards in poor countries than does authoritarian government. At first, you might think the claim sounds a bit trite—What decent person would argue otherwise? The truth is that for the past half-century or so, the bulk of academic literature, United States policymakers, and Third World leaders have done so. While America’s support for selected dictators across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia has been primarily based on Cold War calculations, this has been further justified by the conviction that democracy in poor countries breeds economic stagnation and civil unrest.  \nToday, it is politically incorrect to extol publicly the virtues of autocracies—countries where leaders are not popularly elected nor subject to meaningful checks and balances. Nonetheless, the view that these governments do a better job of promoting economic growth and stability among poor countries remains firmly entrenched in the minds of many world  \n1  \n2 • The Democracy Advantage  \nleaders, economists, national security advisors, business executives, political scientists, and international civil servants. According to this perspective, promoting democracy in poor countries is naïve and potentially dangerous.  \nWhich side wins this debate matters, a lot. Acknowledging a democratic advantage for development—that is, a nation’s social and economic progress—opens the door to a major rethinking of political and economic policy toward the developing world. The case for the United States and other industrialized democracies to back unstintingly democratization throughout the Third World becomes overwhelming. This would mark a sharp turnaround from current, tentative measures, where meaningful support for the emergence of democracy often falls short of the rhetoric lofted in its name.  \nMany readers are no doubt wondering at this point, “What about China?” China’s rapid growth over the past 25 years makes it the contemporary poster child of authoritarian-led economic development. Doesn’t it pose a major obstacle to our claim about the superiority of the democratic over the authoritarian model? Although a complex and still unfolding phenomenon, we will argue that, paradoxically, China’s stunning economic performance helps make our case by highlighting the exceptional and fragile nature of economic growth in autocratic systems. First, however, let’stake a look at the contours of China’s economic boom.  \nStarting with market reforms in 1978 giving peasants incentives to boost agricultural productivity, China has experienced a nearly uninterrupted expansion of its economy. Income per person, adjusted for inflation, has risen more than six-fold over the past 25 years, to $940 from $151. In just the past decade, China has grown to the sixth from the eleventh largest economy in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.2 trillion.  \nLike other East Asian countries, China rode an export-led development strategy to economic stardom. Trade makes up 50 percent of its economy and 5 percent of world exports. Lured by cheap labor and the prospect of gaining access to a market of 1.3 billion people, international investors have flocked to China, pouring some $40 billion a year into its economy in recent year","cbCaigYNsm4QC5zO","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigYNsm4QC5zO","pdf",877061,3,1,24,"English","en",105,"# Exposing a 50-Year-Old Myth\n## Democracy vs. dictatorship as development strategy\n## The democratic advantage for poor countries\n## Addressing the “What about China?” challenge\n## China’s economic growth and market reforms","[{\"question\":\"Why does the author discuss China after presenting the democratic advantage?\",\"answer\":\"China’s rapid authoritarian-led growth is presented as a major test of the claim, since it seems to support the authoritarian model; the chapter then sets up an argument that China’s growth underscores the exceptional and fragile nature of autocratic development.\"}]",1783089104,60,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":78,"head_meta":80,"extra_data":82,"updated_unix":28},"the-democracy-advantage","",{"@graph":36,"@context":77},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-democracy-advantage/40009/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-12","2026-07-03",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"Why does the author discuss China after presenting the democratic advantage?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"China’s rapid authoritarian-led growth is presented as a major test of the claim, since it seems to support the authoritarian model; the chapter then sets up an argument that China’s growth underscores the exceptional and fragile nature of autocratic development.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":79,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":81,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":84},[85,89,93,97,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":86,"show_sort_weight":87,"slug":88},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":98,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":29,"slug":100},5,"Comic","comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":129},19,"General","general"]