ABSTRACT

The underdeveloped countries know neither political nor economic democracy. A new African or Asian country may, but need not, follow the path of capitalist or etatist development. It may choose a path that leads to socialism much more directly. A feudal or fascist autocracy toppled in a civil war— since the mechanisms for a peaceful transfer of power do not exist— may be replaced by a regime that will nationalize the productive capital but that is unlikely to be able to introduce socialist democracy. Workers are few in number, earn income several times higher than that of peasants, and represent a privileged group in a poor society. A democratic government is even more difficult. High labor productivity cannot be achieved overnight; neither can stable political democracy. The interwar political history of Europe consists of military and fascist coups, a continuous sequence of failures of parliamentarianism, and the wholesale replacement of democracy by dictatorship in most European countries.