ABSTRACT
The development of a capitalist political economy has in most cases preceded a democratic transition. This implies that capitalism is historically prior to the development of a democratic polity. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as Switzerland and Israel, but in most cases this temporal relationship holds true. In keeping with the insights of Philippe Schmitter and Arpad Todor in Chapter 2 of this volume, we can therefore infer that the form capitalist development takes influences the structure of social interest alignments, and, in turn, the shape that democratic governance takes. Put differently, Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) could be causally related to certain types of party systems and organizations, at least in the initial phases of a democratic transition. After all, capitalist development generates social interest alignments that shape the timing, nature, and dynamics of future political evolution.
