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A review of the literature -- both empirical & theoretical -- on modernization as defined by the classical Western model, which assumes that a uniform world of political democracies with free market economies will be the natural result of economic development. It is suggested that this model is too deterministic for non-Western countries because it does not distinguish between the demands of modernization & the preconditions for democratization. Many studies have found that there is no direct relationship between economic growth & political democratization. Modern political entities develop common characteristics, including the design of participatory structures & processes, but there is no evidence that the Western economic model should be adopted by all modernizing societies. 5 Figures. Adapted from the source document.

De westerse wereld verkeert in een impasse. Er zijn crises op het gebied van de economie en het milieu. Toenemende mondiale competitie zet de westerse hegemonie onder druk terwijl de schaarste aan grondstoffen snel groter wordt. Er leeft zowel een gevoel van richtingloosheid als het idee op een doodlopende weg te zijn beland. Eenzijdig inzetten op economische groei om deze problemen en gevoelens aan te pakken blijkt achterhaald. Ook duurzame ontwikkeling als strategie is ontoereikend. In dit boek zet de auteur een belangrijke stap naar de oplossing - want die oplossing is er wel degelijk! Hij introduceert een nieuw begrip: welstendigheid. Hierin staat het welzijn van de mens centraal, in het hier en nu en op de lange termijn. Vanuit deze gedachte neemt de auteur ons mee op reis naar een 'nieuwe kijk op groei': een 'Grand Design' voor de 21e eeuw. Hierbij heeft hij het volste vertrouwen in de mens - deze moet zich die 'nieuwe kijk' alleen nog eigen maken. De oplossingen voor de problemen van deze tijd blijken dichterbij te liggen dan menigeen denkt

Dutch socioeconomic concertation has experienced some transformative changes in its modus operandi in recent years, which has given the 'Polder Model' a new lease on life for the time being. Building on an older tradition of sharing political space with civil society organizations, the recent liberal-social democratic government coalition, with Mark Rutte at the helm (2012-2017), has been able to enact a surprisingly successful structural reform agenda in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Governing in times of significant economic, social and political uncertainty, it is no mean feat that the Rutte II administration – de facto a minority government – is the first Dutch coalition to complete its term since the administration under Wim Kok (1994-1998). After the foundational Social Accord (the so-called Mondriaan Akkoord) in April 2013, a series of reform agreements were reached in the policy areas of education, housing, healthcare, industrial and energy policy. For each of these more meso-level accords, a variety of civil society organizations participated that were beyond the traditional social partners of business and labor. Over time these seemingly ad hoc, open and non-hierarchical agreements materialized in a trajectory of cumulatively transformative policy change. The political tactic of the Rutte II government stands out in comparison with the halcyon Dutch miracle era of the Polder Model in the 1980s and 1990. We explain the new modes of Dutch socioeconomic policy concertation and its political tactic as a kind of rallying around existing institutional arrangements to bring the contested political and social center together behind a major adjustment strategy, including retrenchment, compensatory social meas­ures and investments, when reform output and outcomes are fundamentally uncertain. Whether the new Polder Model will prove robust remains an open question. Recently, new multiple party covenants were negotiated in the textile and banking industry. Meanwhile a number of issues concerning regional labor market regulation and work-life balance reconciliation have yet to be resolved.

It is hypothesized that a subordinate position in the international goods & capital markets retards economic development. A model of relationships among trade dependency, stock of foreign capital, flow of foreign capital, state strength, level of economic dependency, & economic growth is formulated, & estimated for a sample of 94 nations. Multiple regression analysis identifies: a strong curvilinear relationship between level of economic development & economic growth; a positive effect of flow of foreign capital on economic growth; a negative effect of stock of foreign capital on economic growth; weak interaction effects of intensity of trade & structure of trade on economic growth; & no effect of state strength on economic growth. 2 Tables, 3 Appendixes, 60 References. Modified HA

An empirical test of hypotheses that explain Left/Right political preferences on the basis of economic self-interest or of status. The diagonal mobility models developed by Michael E. Sobel (see SA 30:3/82M2954) are applied to survey data from the Netherlands for 1970/71 & 1977. The hypothesis that yields the best fitting model is that based on the assumption that individuals behave according to economic self-interest, but with a time-lag before taking on the political preferences of a newly entered status category. Macro-effects on society can thus be expected to reflect net structural mobility rather than total mobility, as would be suggested by status hypotheses. 10 Tables, 30 References. Modified HA