Modernization Theory: Background

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Modernization TheoryBackground

• Emerged in the US during the 1950s and 60s

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Modernization TheoryBackground

• Following the end of World War II

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Modernization TheoryBackground

• Three major developments following WWII
• New development institutions and development
  emphasis
• Wave of newly independent countries
• Emergence of the Cold War and US Anti-Communism

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New development institutions and development
emphasis

• International Bank for Reconstruction and
  Development (World Bank)
• 1944
• Recovery of Europe
• Poor, middle-income countries
• United Nations Development Program
• 1965
• Democratic governance
• Poverty reduction

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Wave of newly independent countries

• Post-WWII dismantling of the European colonial
  empires

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Promoting democracy and blocking spread of
communism

• Communist threat
• Czechoslovakia "fell" to the communists in 1948
• Soviets closed down Berlin followed by US airlift
  1949. 
• 1949 China-Communist
• Vietnam, by 1947Ho Chi Minh leading communists in
  a civil war against FranceVietnam War
• Korea free from Japanese colonialism divided at
  38th parallel into communist North and
  capitalist South. Korean War 1950-53

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Kennedys Alliance for Progress

• 1961
• Latin America
• 10-year, multi-billion foreign aid program
• promote economic growth and political reform
• long-term goalcountering Communism

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Modernization Theory Background

• Promoting democracy and blocking spread of
  communism
• Massive US aid across the bamboo curtain
• Taiwan (Nationalist)
• South Korea

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Modernization Theory Coincided with Behavioral
Revolution

• Spearheaded in 1950s by advocates of more social
  scientific, empirical approach
• focusing on individual behavior
• not constitutional docs, legal texts
• Lipset, Political Man, published 1960
• For behavioralists interested in individual-level
  political behavior,
• survey research became the methodology of choice.

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Modernization TheoryKey Elements

• Individual level of analysis
• Premised on common perception of Anglo-Saxon
  (esply US) experience
• Wealth? education/middle class
• ?modern values ? democracy
• Poverty?lack of education
• ?traditional values ? authoritarianism
• Note dichotomy between modern and traditional

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Dichotomy between modern traditional (version 1)

• Modern values Traditional values
• achievement-oriented ascriptive
• rule/merit-based reliance on personal ties
• active passive
• rational non-rational, superstitious

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Modernization Theory Lipsets version

• Econ development
• Wealth
• Industrialization
• Urbanization
• Education
• ? modern values
• Lipsets stories
• ? democracy

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Modernization Theory

• As you can see,
• We still need to explain wealth vs. poverty
• ? Stay tuned for next week

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Modernization Theory Ronald Ingleharts Version
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Dichotomy between modern traditional (version 2)

• Civic culture attitudes Traditional attitudes
• trust distrust
• satisfaction low satisfaction
• competence low competence

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Your turn to become a behavioralist
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