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Democracy, Dictatorship and the Cultural Transmission of Political Values

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  • Ticchi, Davide
  • Verdier, Thierry
  • Vindigni, Andrea

Abstract

We develop a theory of endogenous regimes transitions (with a focus on democratic consolidation), which emphasizes the role of political culture and of its interaction with political institutions. Political culture reflects the extent of individual commitment across citizens to defend democracy against a potential military coup, and it is an endogenous state variable of the model along with formal political institutions. We focus on two agencies of political socialization: the family and the state. Parents invest resources in order to transmit their own political values (commitment to democracy) to their children. The state invests resources in public indoctrination infrastructures. The model displays two-way complementarities between political regimes and political culture diffusion. Consolidated democracy emerges when sufficiently many people are committed to democracy. Otherwise the model features persistent fluctuations in and out of democracy as well as cycles of political culture. Importantly, the politico-economic equilibrium may exhibit a persistent (although declining) incongruence between political institutions and political culture, which tends to evolve more slowly than formal institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ticchi, Davide & Verdier, Thierry & Vindigni, Andrea, 2013. "Democracy, Dictatorship and the Cultural Transmission of Political Values," POLIS Working Papers 171, Institute of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS.
    • Handle: RePEc:uca:ucapdv:171
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    Cited by:

    1. Kenju Kamei & Louis Putterman & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2019. "Civic Engagement as a Second-Order Public Good," Working Papers 2019-8, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    2. Iyigun, Murat & Rubin, Jared & Seror, Avner, 2021. "A theory of cultural revivals," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. Koenig, Christoph, 2023. "Loose Cannons: War Veterans and the Erosion of Democracy in Weimar Germany," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(1), pages 167-202, March.
    4. Kenju Kamei & Louis Putterman & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2019. "Civic Engagement as a Second-Order Public Good: The Cooperative Underpinnings of the Accountable State," Discussion Papers 19-10, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    5. Belmonte, Alessandro & Dell'Anno, Roberto & Teobaldelli, Désirée, 2018. "Tax morale, aversion to ethnic diversity, and decentralization," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 204-223.
    6. Timothy Besley, 2017. "Aspirations and the political economy of inequality," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-35.
    7. María Angelica Bautista & Felipe González & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Munoz & Mounu Prem, 2018. "The Geography of Repression and Support for Democracy: Evidence from the Pinochet Dictatorship," Documentos de Trabajo 17007, Universidad del Rosario.
    8. Kamei, Kenju & Putterman, Louis & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2023. "Civic engagement, the leverage effect and the accountable state," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Alessandro Belmonte, 2021. "Sophisticated electoral accountability," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 233-260, June.
    10. Belmonte, Alessandro & Di Lillo, Armando, 2018. "The Legacy of Forced Assimilation Policies:Entry Barriers in the Labor Market and Anti-German Sentiments in South Tyrol," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 379, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    11. Jiabin Wu & Hanzhe Zhang, 2022. "Polarization, antipathy, and political activism," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(3), pages 1005-1017, July.
    12. Stephen L. Parente & Luis Felipe Sáenz & Anna Seim, 2022. "Income, education and democracy," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 193-233, June.
    13. Alessandro Belmonte & Désirée Teobaldelli & Davide Ticchi, 2023. "Tax morale, fiscal capacity, and war," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(2), pages 445-474, June.
    14. Roland Bénabou & Davide Ticchi & Andrea Vindigni, 2022. "Forbidden Fruits: The Political Economy of Science, Religion, and Growth [Economic Backwardness in Political Perspective]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(4), pages 1785-1832.
    15. Belmonte, Alessandro, 2020. "State Capacity, Schooling, and Fascist Education: Evidence from the Reclamation of the Pontine Marshes," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 528, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    16. Verdier, Thierry & Bisin, Alberto, 2017. "On the Joint Evolution of Culture and Institutions," CEPR Discussion Papers 12000, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Carvalho, Jean-Paul & Koyama, Mark, 2013. "Resisting Education," MPRA Paper 48048, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Matí­as Brum, 2018. "Do Dictatorships Affect People's Long Term Beliefs and Preferences? : An Empirical Assessment of the Latin American Case," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 18-18, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    19. Belmonte, Alessandro & Rochlitz, Michael, 2020. "Collective memories, propaganda and authoritarian political support," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 44(3).
    20. Diwan, Ishac & Vartanova, Irina, 2020. "Does education indoctrinate?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    21. repec:bla:annpce:v:89:y:2018:i:1:p:251-258 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Nobuaki Hori, 2017. "Political regime change and cultural transmission of secularism," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 431-450, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    security; political culture; socialization; democracy; military; nondemocracy; politi- cal economy; political transitions; institutional consolidation; path dependency.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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