ABSTRACT
Stepping forward in time from late seventeenth-century British history, consider the development of the institutions of democracy and markets in contemporary developing nation-states. The experience of five pairs of developing nations provides a fulcrum to pivot the focus from description to prescription. These pairs: Pakistan and Thailand on the rule of law, Poland and Egypt on privatization, Turkey and Iran on the separation of religion and governance, Chile and Argentina on the coordination of monetary and fiscal policy reforms, China and Germany on developing regional subsectors policies. The five pairs' contrasting experiences provide illustrations that are important harbingers of how technical assistance in building and reforming institutions can support the building of liberal nation-states. The reformers' electoral triumphs in the municipal elections of 1998 and in the parliamentary contest of 2000 initially gave credence to the strategy, since Iran's democratic infrastructure was expanding. Turkey's democracy is far from perfect, but it persists and the army remains in its barracks.
