Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2010

Democracy

International Business

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Conviction And Punishment: Free Press And Competitive Election As Deterrents To Corruption, Xiaowen Tian, Vai Lo Jul 2010

Conviction And Punishment: Free Press And Competitive Election As Deterrents To Corruption, Xiaowen Tian, Vai Lo

Xiaowen Tian

Democratic institutions are not equally effective in curbing corruption. Using a criminal behavior model, this study formulates the hypothesis that corruption offenders, being risk-inclined, are deterred more by conviction-reinforcing democratic institutions than by punishment-reinforcing democratic institutions. Evidence based on cross-country regressions strongly supports this hypothesis, indicating that compared with competitive election, free press is a more effective deterrent to corruption. While shedding light on why corruption remains rampant in some electoral democracies - particularly the illiberal democracies - this study identifies a key to corruption control.

Go to article

Evaluating South Africa's Post-Apartheid Democratic Prospects Through The Lens Of Economic Development Theory, Jonathan Marshfield Dec 2009

Evaluating South Africa's Post-Apartheid Democratic Prospects Through The Lens Of Economic Development Theory, Jonathan Marshfield

Jonathan Marshfield

Political scientists have identified compelling correlations between economic development and democratic stability. In general, the wealthier and more developed a country, the greater its chances of maintaining a long-term, stable democracy. This Article evaluates whether South Africa’s post-apartheid economic conditions are trending towards conditions that generally correlate to stable democracies. It compares South Africa’s post-apartheid economic conditions to the empirical trends that development theorists have identified as correlative to democratic stability. This analysis is important because if South Africa’s post-apartheid economic conditions do not exhibit positive trends, this may suggest that despite the just end of apartheid, conditions are becoming …

Go to article