Does Oil Hinder Democracy?

Abstract

Some scholars suggest that the Middle East's oil wealth helps explain its failure to democratize. This article examines three aspects of this “oil impedes democracy” claim. First, is it true? Does oil have a consistendy antidemocratic effect on states, once other factors are accounted for? Second, can this claim be generalized? Is it true only in the Middle East or elsewhere as well? Is it true for other types of mineral wealth and other types of commodity wealth or only for oil? Finally, if oil does have antidemocratic properties, what is the causal mechanism?The author uses pooled time-series cross-national data from 113 states between 1971 and 1997 to show that oil exports are strongly associated with authoritarian rule; that this effect is not limited to the Middle East; and that other types of mineral exports have a similar antidemocratic effect, while other types of commodity exports do not.The author also tests three explanations for this pattern: a “rentier effect,” which suggests that resource-rich governments use low tax rates and patronage to dampen democratic pressures; a “repression effect,” which holds that resource wealth enables governments to strengthen their internal security forces and hence repress popular movements; and a “modernization effect,” which implies that growth that is based on the export of oil and minerals will fail to bring about die social and cultural changes that tend to produce democratic government. He finds at least limited support for all three effects.

Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?

“…One panel study investigating the link between resources, institutional development and growth in 91 developing countries during 1970-2000 finds that point-source type natural resources (minerals, coffee, coca) retard democratic and institutional development, measured by the degree of democracy for each country over time, and this stunts growth (Mavrotas, et. al., 2006; also see Ross, 1999Ross, , 2001b. Another panel data study finds that the impact of resources on growth found in cross-country regressions disappears once one allows for fixed effects; resource dependence (primary exports as fraction of GNP) may be correlated with unobservable characteristics (Manzano and Rigobon, 2001).…”

The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Play Therapy on Externalizing Behavior Problems Among Street and Working Children

“…Moreover, determining the exact number of street children is impossible according to the estimates released by the UNICEF, but such figures approximately reach to about tens of millions children throughout the world [2]. The age range of these children in developing countries falls under 8 years, although in developed countries the range is above 12 years [3].…”

Noxious or democratizing help? Foreign aid and the Arab awakening

“…It is so, because oil is another non-taxed source of revenue and has a huge positive impact on the survival of authoritarian regimes. 16 Iraq is also not considered acceptable for the sample because of the direct influence that Western countries have there. Syria is not taken into account because of its close ties with a non-democratic Russia and financial data for transactions between these two states is not included in the dataset used for analysis.…”