A Review of Chapter Six and Seven

In chapter six, it mainly discusses the problems and the future of the democratizing states in the world. Firstly, it analyzes the causes for the downfall of capitalist dictatorships and communist regimes in the past two decades. The oil crisis, economic recession, military defeat, and political problems happened to a varied extent respectively in Southern European countries, such as Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Most of the Latin American countries suffered from the debt-related economic crisis. In Argentina, the economic crisis, military defeat in Falklands, and loss of U.S. support completely ruined the dictatorship. In Brazil, the economic crisis and changed political conditions contributed to the breakdown of the dictatorship. The similar situation existed in the Philippines. In East Asia, the short-lived prosperity of dictatorships in South Korea and Taiwan was dismantled by the rising of the other Asian competitors with lower wages, the changing of U.S. policy, and the internal protests. Thailand also made a power transfer to a civilian government after experiencing many economic and political problems. The communist dictatorships in China and Vietnam survived the economic and political crises on their own efforts and carried out a series of reforms. The Soviet Union did not have that luck. The stagnation of collectivized agriculture, the massive military spending, and the falling oil prices worsened the economic problems. Along with that, the succession crises between 1982 and 1985, and the military defeat in Afghanistan undermined the legitimacy of the regime. The subsequent new foreign policy they adopted brought a fatal strike to the communist dictatorship and sped up the collapse of the communist dictatorships in Eastern Europe. Many countries in South Africa also democratized subject to the pressure of the economic, military and political crisis. Then, the author examined the political and economic strategies adopted by most democratized countries: open the economy; sell or privatize the state assets and industries; reduce the military expense. It was pointed out that some new problems occurred simultaneously with the new policies implemented. Lastly, the author discussed the future for those democratizing states.

Through the analysis of the downfall of capitalist dictatorships and communist regimes, the author presents us a very clear picture of the development of democratization in the world. It was also pointed out that some new problems occurred simultaneously with the new policies implemented. The problems became more apparent recent years. In some democratized countries, the increasing influence of interest groups affected and distorted the government’s power. Some governments went inferior to make decisions. Working people only have the freedom to sell their labor and the equal rights to be exploited by the capitalist class. The capitalist class always play the decisive role in political operation because they own vast property resources, political organizations and mass media. The people there were hard to enjoy real democratic rights. Turmoil, poverty, violence and corruption troubled many democratized countries. Many nominally democratic states were moving towards dictatorship, and only the procedure of democratic election was left. In the concluding paragraph, although the author discussed the future for those democratizing states, he only emphasized the continuing problems left to the new dictators and democrats. The prospects for those democratizing countries remain uncertain. More suggestions are needed for what kind of development model will be better. That should be a weak point for his arguments.

In chapter seven, it gives a review of the achievements of China and analyzes the problems associated with its ascent. Despite the economic disruptions and political distractions of Great Leap Forward in the 1950s and GPCR in the 1960s, China’s regime managed to keep the agricultural growth and promote industrialization. In the 1970s, China’s diplomatic relations with U.S. and other countries were recovered, as well as the political position in the UN. Reform conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s slowed down the population growth, increased food production, and made further economic development with foreign loans and investment. Then inflation was also accompanied by those achievements. Nevertheless, China still had a big share of the global foreign investment through its designed system, like labor control, suppressing wages and political repression. That comparative advantage of China disadvantaged the other democratizing countries in the world. With more and more foreign investment flooded into China, China also gained the admission to WTO in 2001 after long negotiations with the U.S. and other WTO members. Though China had already made considerable progress in both economy and politics, there were still problems that needed to be solved. Foreign investment benefited China but also contributed to the rising inflation. Through exchange rates, China protected the local enterprises and markets. With farmland converted to other uses and ongoing population growth, China might face food shortage and trigger the price rising of the world’s grain. The migration of surplus laborers into cities would also create a substantial burden on the urban housing and other facilities. Taiwan, a part of China, had not reunited with the mainland of China yet.

The author reviewed the whole development process after the foundation of China’s communist dictatorship in a chronological order and gave a thorough analysis of China’s problems ahead. Though the political and economic situation changed unpredictable, China managed to catch up in all aspects, which altered the world situation in return. But I don’t agree that China will become the largest economy in the world in future. First, the imbalance of economic development still exists in many places within China. Most of GDP are created by the coastal and developed areas. There are still many poor people in the rural area and also many poor people in the cities. Secondly, natural resources are limited, especially the non-renewable resources. The rapid economic growth is connected with the mass consumption of the resources. The day will come sooner or later when the resources are used up. Then China will face not only the food crisis but also the energy crisis. Thirdly, actions need to be taken for inflation and environmental pollution first before further development. The rising inflation is a headache for both the authorities and the ordinary people. Neither the rich nor the poor would like to see their purchasing ability declined. Moreover, due to technological limits and lack of environmental awareness, some land has been excessively used and damaged in the past decades. Especially the water and air in some industrial areas are heavily polluted. To keep a sustainable development, China must solve the environmental problems. Considering above factors, China will still be the developing country and more efforts will be needed in the coming years.

Besides above issues, a common feature in the communist dictatorships and the democratized regimes can be found that they all suffered from inflation. That reminds us that there must be something wrong with our world. Some economists suggest that the current development model of the economy might be wrong. It can be possible because the economic globalization expedites the speed of consumption of our resources on the earth and causes irrevocable consequences. It is also deepening the gap between the rich and the poor. What’s worse, the consumerism of “the more, the better” finally might result in global conflicts for resources. Therefore, it may be the time for all of us to try a new model of the economy, lest a third world war should happen.