State First, Then Democracy: Using Cadastral Records to Explain Governmental Performance in Public Goods Provision

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: D'Arcy, Michelle; Nistotskaya, Marina
• 署名单位: Trinity College Dublin; University of Gothenburg
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12206
• 发表日期: 2017
• 关键词: sequencing fallacy; cross-country; capacity; democratization; CORRUPTION; AFRICA

摘要

This article presents a theoretical argument of how and why democratization at different levels of state capacity matters for public goods provision and subjects the argument to empirical tests. Building on rational choice theories of public goods production, we argue that credible enforcement before credible commitmentdemocratizing after the state has acquired high levels of state capacityleads to a more efficient social order than the opposite sequence. Using a theoretically grounded and novel indicator of historical state capacitythe extent and quality of cadastral recordsthe analysis shows that those countries where the state developed extensive enforcement capacities before democratization exhibit, on average, better provision of essential public goods and are less corrupt.