World System Position, Dependency, and Democracy: The Cross-National Evidence

Semiperipheral and peripheral positions in the world system are thought to reduce a country's chances for political democracy, but this hypothesis has been neglected in empirical research. Arguments from dependency and world system theory suggesting such a relationship are first derived. Next, a regression analysis of the relations of political democracy to world system positions and economic development is undertaken. Using partial regression plots, six countries that appear to be misclassified on the Snyder and Kick (1979) world system measure are identified. A reanalysis of the data with these cases reclassified demonstrates the negative influence of peripheral and semiperipheral positions on democracy for the full sample as well as random subsamples. Throughout the analysis economic development has a significant, positive effect on political democracy.

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