Authoritarianism.docx

Authoritarianism.docx

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Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism:

BoomorBaneforEconomicDevelopment?

WangTianyi

Economicdevelopmentisaconstantgoalofhumanbeingsintheirlonghistory,whichnotonlydependsonproductivitybutalsohighlypertainstopolitics.Politicalissuesregardingeconomicgrowthisindispensablysignificanttomankind,whiledebateonhowregimetypeimpactseconomicgrowthhasbeenlastingfordecades.Thefollowingessayattemptstodemonstratehowauthoritarianismaffectseconomicdevelopmentwithpertinentexamplesanalyzed.

Authoritarianismmeanstheconcentrationofpowerinarulerwhodemandsthatpeopletotallyobeyandrefusestoallowthemfreedomtoactastheywish（Cambridge,2011）.Theoppositiontoauthoritarianismisdemocracy,whichallowspeopletofreelyexpresstheiropinionsanddemandtheirrights.Intuitively,authoritarianismseemstobeahinderingthegrowthofcapitalisteconomywhichemphasizesfreemarketandpersonalchoices.However,therealityseemstobenotalwaysinaccordance.ThemostrepresentativeexamplesareEastAsiancountries,mostofwhichwereruledbyauthoritarianregimesduring1960s.“ThecountriesofEastandSoutheastAsiagrewextremelyrapidlyduringthelastquartercentury.Theeightbestperformers--HongKong,Singapore,Taiwan,Korea,China,Malaysia,Thailand,andIndonesia--grewatanaverageofover5.5%peryearinpercapitatermsbetween1965and1990”（Radelet,Sachs&Lee,1997）.Althoughthe“EastAsiamiracles”attributedtomanyreasons,astate-ledeconomyunderauthoritarianismappearedtoexertitsgreatinfluenceonit.Forinstance,afterParkChungHee’smilitarycoupd’état,hisdictatorshipsawextraordinaryeconomicdevelopmentinthe1970sto1980s,duringwhichtheannualeconomicgrowthrateachieved9.3%（Korea:

1945-present,2011）.

The“EastAsianmiracles”urgepeopletorethinktherelationshipbetweeneconomicdevelopmentandauthoritarianism.Doesauthoritarianismhinderorhelpeconomicdevelopment,or,underwhatcircumstancedoesauthoritarianismhinderorhelpeconomicdevelopment?

Totrytoanswerthesequestions,twocasesareanalyzedinthefollowing:

SingaporeandBurmafrom1960sto1990s.

Singaporeisamongthemosturbanized,prosperousandfast-growingcountriesintheworldfortherecentthreedecades.In1959，itsGDPpercapitaofwasonly400USdollars,andthisfigurebecame12000in1990whichhadincreasedby2900%and22000in1999whichhadincreasedby5400%（Singapore,2011）.

However,underitseconomicauralaysalessconspicuousfactthatinthisnation,authoritarianismhasexistedforvirtuallyfortyyears.Sincetheindependencein1965,SingaporehasbeenruledbyonepoliticalpartyheadedbypremierministerLeeKuanYew,andtheminoroppositionpartieshavebeenalwayssupplantedandsuppressed.DespitethefactthatitlookslikeSingaporehasademocraticsystemfromaproceduralperspectiveinthatpeoplearegrantedtherighttochooseandvote,however,inactuality,itisacountrywithcompleteautocracy（Tian,2005）.

Asanauthoritarianregime,LeeKuanYewadoptedthestate-ledpolicytodevelopitseconomy,andutilizedtheadvantageofauthoritarianismtoenforcethreemajorpolicies.

Firstly,heestablishedandkeptaextraordinarilyefficientandincorruptiblegovernment.Toguaranteeanelitegovernment,civilservantswererigorouslyselected.Fortheofficialsfoundtobecorruptive,sternpunishmentwasexecuted,andsophisticatedsupervisionsystemwasstrictlyoperatedtoo.Moreover,thesalaryforofficialswaskeptinaconsiderablyhighlevel.Thispolicynotonlyattractedplentyoftalentsbutweakenedtheincentivetocorrupt.Allthesemeasuresnotablyhelpedtoreinforcetheefficiencyinresourcesallocationandcurtaildispensablewaste.

Additionally,Singaporekeptasubstantiallylowtaxrate.Intuitively,comparedwithdemocracy,authoritarianregimesaremoreinclinedtolevyhightaxationtofinancethem.Nevertheless,SingaporehasmadeitsincometaxratethelowestandthecorporatetaxthethirdlowestamongAsianeconomies（Park,2006）.Duetoscarceresourcesavailable,Singaporehaslittlechoicebutrelyonexportandforeigninvestment.Tomeltitselftointernationaleconomy,alowtaxratehencebecamevitaltobecompetitive.

Furthermore,Singaporetrieditsbesttoassurethecapitalists’benefit.Economically，ahighcapitalreturnistheprerequisiteforstrongeconomicgrowth.Usually,thecapitalisheldbycapitalists,andprotectingthemhastosacrificesthebenefitofthelabors.Forthisaspect,Singaporeenhanceditsimpactonthemarkettoconfinetherightsoflaborsincludingtheprohibitioninstrikeoflaborunions.

Fromthesepoliciesimplemented,Singaporewaspronetoguaranteeastrongeconomicgrowthbyreallocatingtheresourcestoinvestorsandcapitaliststostimulateincessantexpansionofthe