| Abstract: | The relationship between economic development and democracy is an important research topic in political science. Since Lipset proposed the argument that “economic development promotes democratization” in 1959, this thesis has been exerting profound influence on academic circles, known as “one of the most prominent theories of the social science” and “one of the best sustained by the evidence” in comparative politics. “Lipset hypothesis” was examined repeatedly during the half a century. It met with fierce criticisms. For instance, some scholars questioned the positive effects of the economic developent; some revised the linear causal logic between economic development democracy; and some raised “political process explanation” and “exogenous explanation” as alternative theories. Scholars who supported “Lipset hypothesis” responded to the criticisms. Their research made the causal relationships between economic development and democracy more explicit, expanding the theoretical space and explanatory power of “Lipset hypothesis”. However, with the change of reality and the development of society, the debates on this issue will continue. |
