Abstract:
Modernization theory posits that economic growth and democratization are mutually constitutive processes. I extend a recent literature that finds this relationship to be spurious due to the existence of a number of international factors, specifically the role of foreign capital. Through two-stage least square (2SLS) regressions for as wide a sample as the data allow and two case studies (Indonesia and the Philippines), I find that the presence of US capital significantly influences domestic political institutions. This relationship, however, is non-linear and interrelated with exogenous shocks.
