2020/07/06 by Bryn Rosenfeld · 28 citations
Mathematics · Social Sciences · #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #Communism #Culture, Economy, and Development Studies #Democracy #Democratization #Economic system #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Law #Mathematics #Middle East #Middle class #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Social science #Socialization #Sociology #State (computer science)
paper · doi:10.1177/0010414020938085
published in Comparative Political Studies 54(3-4), 411-444 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2020/07/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Scholars have long viewed the middle class as an agent of democratization. This article provides the first rigorous cross-national analysis of middle class regime preferences, systematically investigating the importance of an authoritarian state’s economic relationship with the middle class. Using detailed survey data on individual employment histories from 27 post-communist countries, I show that, under autocracy, state-sector careers diminish support for democracy, especially among middle class professionals. The results are robust to changes in the measurement of both the middle class and democracy support. I also show that neither selection nor response bias, redistributive preferences, communist socialization, or transition experiences can explain the results. The findings imply that a state-supported middle class may, in fact, delay democratization.