Economic globalization, Democratization tendencies, Least Developed Countries

Democratization studies have traditionally focused on the importance of the domestic economic and political factors. Until the 1990s the international factors had been marginalized. Because the rise of democracy in both wider and narrower senses came approximately at the same time as the outset of globalization and the emergence of neo-modernist approaches to trade liberalization, a fundamental question arose: is not the level of democracy influenced by the external factors much more than we have recognized so far? Globalization is one of the major external factors in the process. Therefore, the principal question of this paper is whether there is a direct correlation between democracy in LDC countries and the ongoing globalization?Comparing the level of democracy in LDCs since 1980s using the metodology of Freedom House and selected economical indicators, we make the case that ongoing globalization has a positive impact on the level of democracy in the group of the least developed countries.

Democratization studies have traditionally focused on the importance of the domestic economic and political factors. Until the 1990s the international factors had been marginalized. Because the rise of democracy in both wider and narrower senses came approximately at the same time as the outset of globalization and the emergence of neo-modernist approaches to trade liberalization, a fundamental question arose: is not the level of democracy influenced by the external factors much more than we have recognized so far? Globalization is one of the major external factors in the process. Therefore, the principal question of this paper is whether there is a direct correlation between democracy in LDC countries and the ongoing globalization?Comparing the level of democracy in LDCs since 1980s using the metodology of Freedom House and selected economical indicators, we make the case that ongoing globalization has a positive impact on the level of democracy in the group of the least developed countries.