Editing Modernization theory (section)

==  Modernization and economic development ==
Modernization theorists often saw traditions as obstacles to [[economic development]]. According to Seymour Martin Lipset, economic conditions are heavily determined by the cultural, social values present in that given society.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Elites in Latin America |last=Lipset |first=Seymour Martin |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1967 |location=New York |page=3 |chapter=Chapter 1: Values, Education, and Entrepreneurship}}</ref> Furthermore, while modernization might deliver violent, radical change for [[traditional society|traditional societies]], it was thought worth the price. Critics insist that traditional societies were often destroyed without ever gaining the promised advantages.<ref>{{cite book |first=Majid |last=Rahnema |title=Quand la misère chasse la pauvreté |location=Arles |publisher=Actes Sud |year=2003 |isbn=2-7427-4205-0 |language=fr}}</ref> Others point to improvements in living standards, physical infrastructure, education and economic opportunity to refute such criticisms.

Modernization theorists such as [[Samuel P. Huntington]] held in the 1960s and 1970s that authoritarian regimes yielded greater economic growth than democracies.<ref>Samuel P. Huntington and Joan M. Nelson, No Easy Choice: Political Participation in Developing Countries. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976.</ref> However, this view had been challenged. In ''Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950–1990'' (2000),<ref>Adam Przeworski, with Michael E. Alvarez, Jose Antonio Cheibub, and Fernando Limongi, ''Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950–1990''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.</ref> [[Adam Przeworski]] argued that "democracies perform as well economically as do authoritarian regimes."<ref>Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, "Adam Przeworski: Capitalism, Democracy, and Science," pp. 456-503, in Gerardo L. Munck and Richard Snyder, ''Passion, Craft, and Method in Comparative Politics.'' Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, p 457.</ref> A study by [[Daron Acemoglu]], [[Suresh Naidu]], Pascual Restrepo, and [[James A. Robinson (economist)|James A. Robinson]] shows that "democracy has a positive effect on GDP per capita."<ref>Daron Acemoglu, Suresh Naidu, Pascual Restrepo, and James A. Robinson, "Democracy Does Cause Growth."  ''Journal of Political Economy'' 127(1) 2019: 47-100, p. 47. [https://economics.mit.edu/files/16686]</ref>