Inequality and Democratization

出版者:Cambridge University Press

作者:Ben W. Ansell

页数:236

出版时间:2014-12-22

价格:USD 29.99

装帧:Paperback

isbn号码:9780521168793

丛书系列:Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics

具体描述

Research on the economic origins of democracy and dictatorship has shifted away from the impact of growth and turned toward the question of how different patterns of growth - equal or unequal - shape regime change. This book offers a new theory of the historical relationship between economic modernization and the emergence of democracy on a global scale, focusing on the effects of land and income inequality. Contrary to most mainstream arguments, Ben W. Ansell and David J. Samuels suggest that democracy is more likely to emerge when rising, yet politically disenfranchised, groups demand more influence because they have more to lose, rather than when threats of redistribution to elite interests are low.

作者简介

Ben W. Ansell is Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, Oxford, and co-editor of Comparative Political Studies. His work on education, democracy, and housing markets has appeared in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, World Politics, and International Organization. His book From the Ballot to the Blackboard (Cambridge University Press, 2010) was awarded the 2011 William Riker Prize by the Political Economy Section of the American Political Science Association.

David J. Samuels is Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. He is the coauthor of Presidents, Parties, and Prime Ministers (Cambridge University Press, 2010); the author of Ambition, Federalism, and Legislative Politics in Brazil (Cambridge University Press, 2003); and the co-editor of Decentralization and Democracy in Latin America (2004). His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the British Journal of Political Science. He currently serves as co-editor of Comparative Political Studies.

目录信息

1. Introduction
2. Inequality, development, and distribution
3. Actors and interests
4. An elite-competition model of democratization
5. Assessing the relationship between inequality and democratization
6. Inequality and democratization: empirical extensions
7. Democracy, inequality, and public spending: reassessing the evidence
8. Democracy, redistribution, and preferences
9. Conclusion.
· · · · · · (收起)

读后感

The abstraction of the concept of ”inequality” is too high to render a research question as such a good one. In addition, the high abstraction often results in obscure and incomparable operationalization of the concept across contexts. Finally, the empiri...

The abstraction of the concept of ”inequality” is too high to render a research question as such a good one. In addition, the high abstraction often results in obscure and incomparable operationalization of the concept across contexts. Finally, the empiri...

The abstraction of the concept of ”inequality” is too high to render a research question as such a good one. In addition, the high abstraction often results in obscure and incomparable operationalization of the concept across contexts. Finally, the empiri...

The abstraction of the concept of ”inequality” is too high to render a research question as such a good one. In addition, the high abstraction often results in obscure and incomparable operationalization of the concept across contexts. Finally, the empiri...

The abstraction of the concept of ”inequality” is too high to render a research question as such a good one. In addition, the high abstraction often results in obscure and incomparable operationalization of the concept across contexts. Finally, the empiri...

用户评价

这本书的封面设计简直是一场视觉的盛宴，那种深邃的蓝色调配合着烫金的标题，立刻就给人一种厚重而又充满智慧的期待感。我是在一个偶然的机会在朋友的书架上看到的，当时就被它的排版和字体深深吸引住了。拿到手里掂量了一下，就知道这绝对不是那种轻飘飘的快餐读物，而是需要静下心来细细品味的“硬货”。内页的纸张质量也是一流的，阅读起来非常舒适，即便是长时间盯着密密麻麻的文字，眼睛也不会感到太大的疲劳。装帧的工艺也看得出是下过功夫的，书脊的韧性恰到好处，翻阅时有一种流畅的阻尼感，让人爱不释手。总的来说，从物理属性上讲，它完全配得上它所承载的深刻主题，摆在书架上本身就是一种品味和格调的象征。每一次拿起它，都像是在进行一场仪式，期待着即将开启的思想之旅。

我不得不承认，这本书的开篇部分简直是思想的“下马威”，那种宏大叙事和密集的理论构建，初读时确实让我有些措手不及。作者似乎并不想用温和的方式引导读者进入主题，而是直接将我们推向了复杂概念的漩涡中心。我花了好几天的时间，反复咀嚼着前三章那些关于权力结构演变和社会张力的论述，感觉自己像是在攀登一座知识的陡峭山峰。那些引用的案例和数据，跨越了地理和历史的界限，展现出惊人的广度和深度，每一个脚注都像是一个通往更广阔研究领域的秘密通道。我尤其欣赏作者那种不回避核心矛盾的勇气，他似乎在挑战我们既有的认知框架，迫使我们以一种全新的、更具批判性的视角来审视我们习以为常的社会运作模式。这种强度的阅读体验，虽然辛苦，但回报是巨大的，它彻底重塑了我对某些既定事实的理解。

最后，这本书的结尾处理堪称艺术，它没有提供那种简单粗暴的“解决方案”，而是留下了一个充满张力的开放性讨论。作者在收尾部分，将焦点从对问题的批判性剖析，转向了对未来可能性的审慎探讨。他巧妙地引导读者去思考，在理解了既有框架的局限性之后，我们真正能做些什么？这种“留白”的处理，极大地激发了我的个人反思。我合上书的那一刻，脑海中充斥的不是结论，而是无数个关于“下一步应该如何行动”的问题。这本书更像是一个高质量的对话伙伴，它不仅提供了知识，更激发了持续思考的动力。它不是读完就束之高阁的藏书，而是会时不时地被翻开，重新审视其中某个段落，并从中汲取新的力量和方向的指南。

这本书最让我感到惊喜的是它在处理复杂议题时所展现出的细腻和人文关怀。虽然主体内容是关于宏观的社会结构分析，但作者却总能在关键节点，插入那些鲜活的、微观的个体故事和案例研究。这些片段犹如沙漠中的绿洲，为那些理论上的寒冷注入了人性的温度。我清晰地记得其中一章，描述了一个特定社区在政策变动下所经历的集体焦虑与适应过程，那种细节的捕捉能力，让我仿佛身临其境地感受到了他们的挣扎与希望。这种叙事上的张弛有度，使得整本书的节奏保持得非常完美，避免了纯粹学术著作可能出现的枯燥和疏离感。它让我意识到，那些冰冷的数字和理论背后，站着的是活生生的人和他们的日常命运，这才是真正触动人心的力量所在。

读完这本书的中后段，我有一种强烈的冲动想立刻找人讨论一番，因为它提出的许多推论都极具争议性和前瞻性。作者在分析现状时，毫不留情地揭示了那些被主流叙事所掩盖的结构性不公，其论证过程严密到几乎无懈可击，让人在感到震惊的同时，又不得不承认其逻辑的合理性。尤其是在关于信息不对称和精英阶层固化那几章，作者构建的模型具有极强的解释力，它帮助我理解了为什么有些社会变革会陷入停滞不前。这种将抽象理论与现实危机紧密结合的能力，是很多同类书籍所欠缺的。它不像是在写一本历史书，更像是在为我们当前的困境提供一份详尽的、带有警示意味的诊断书，读完后让人感觉肩上的责任更重了。

成为大佬的途径之一是挑战大佬

理论野心很大，但不如预期。模型很简单，实证也比较粗糙。但是不失为一本有很大意义的著作，因为民主化理论不能只是A&R的基于中位选民提出的劫富济贫。独裁统治expropriation的一面和upper middle class与统治阶级的矛盾在Ansell & Samuels之前已经很久没人提了。

成为大佬的途径之一是挑战大佬

理论野心很大，但不如预期。模型很简单，实证也比较粗糙。但是不失为一本有很大意义的著作，因为民主化理论不能只是A&R的基于中位选民提出的劫富济贫。独裁统治expropriation的一面和upper middle class与统治阶级的矛盾在Ansell & Samuels之前已经很久没人提了。

理论野心很大，但不如预期。模型很简单，实证也比较粗糙。但是不失为一本有很大意义的著作，因为民主化理论不能只是A&R的基于中位选民提出的劫富济贫。独裁统治expropriation的一面和upper middle class与统治阶级的矛盾在Ansell & Samuels之前已经很久没人提了。