Transição, consolidação democrática e revolução capitalista
By: PEREIRA-BRESSER, Luiz Carlos
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ArticlePublisher: Rio de Janeiro : IESP / UERJ, 2011Online resources: Acesso Dados - Revista de Ciências Sociais 54, 2, p. 223-258Abstract: Democracy only became the preferred form of government in the 20th century. The new historical fact that led to the change in preference was the capitalist revolution, which changed the mode of appropriation of the surplus, from violence to the market. Disappearance of fear of expropriation, the emergence of the middle classes, and pressure from the poor were the second, third, and fourth new historical facts that opened the way for the democratic transition. After these four conditions had been met, universal suffrage was guaranteed. The theory presented here does not predict transitions, since countries rarely become democratic without completely meeting historical conditions, but it does predict democratic consolidation, since no country that has completed its democratic revolution slips back into authoritarianism.
Democracy only became the preferred form of government in the 20th century. The new historical fact that led to the change in preference was the capitalist revolution, which changed the mode of appropriation of the surplus, from violence to the market. Disappearance of fear of expropriation, the emergence of the middle classes, and pressure from the poor were the second, third, and fourth new historical facts that opened the way for the democratic transition. After these four conditions had been met, universal suffrage was guaranteed. The theory presented here does not predict transitions, since countries rarely become democratic without completely meeting historical conditions, but it does predict democratic consolidation, since no country that has completed its democratic revolution slips back into authoritarianism.
ISSN 00115258 Versão Impressa
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