Abstract:
This paper explores the cascading influence of revolutionary moments on democracy and inequality, not at home, but across borders. We use data on revolutions and other social upheavals over the past 120 years and examine their cross-national impact on a range of variables in neighboring countries. Engaging with debates on whether substantial democracy and equality increases require extraordinary circumstances, our research investigates whether revolutionary activities induce consequential spillovers, such as policy concessions from elites in neighboring contexts. In exploring spillover effects, the paper examines how significant events in one nation influence social life in adjacent ones. It encompasses an analysis of 171 countries over two centuries, connecting data on revolution with democracy and equality metrics, and hypothesizing that elite fear of revolutionary contagion may necessitate democracy and equality concessions to mitigate potential uprisings. Findings suggest neighboring revolutions positively impact domestic democracy and equality levels. We observe significant increases in an index of democracy and two indices of economic egalitarianism, although one of the egalitarianism measures is robust to all model specifications. Additionally, we find that isolated \"protest-led ousters\" can moderately increase suffrage and one of our indices of egalitarianism, while coups do not seem to impact democracy or inequality variables. By examining various upheaval types and outcomes across time and space, the study illuminates the causal relationship between global mobilizations and local changes, providing insights into how global events inform domestic outcomes.
摘要:
本文探讨了革命时刻对民主和不平等的级联影响,不在家,但跨境。我们使用过去120年来革命和其他社会动荡的数据,并研究它们对邻国一系列变量的跨国影响。参与关于实质性民主和平等是否增加需要特殊情况的辩论,我们的研究调查了革命活动是否会引发相应的溢出效应,例如邻国精英的政策让步。在探索溢出效应时,本文研究了一个国家的重大事件如何影响相邻国家的社会生活。它包含了两个世纪以来对171个国家的分析,将革命数据与民主和平等指标联系起来,并假设精英对革命传染的恐惧可能需要民主和平等让步来减轻潜在的起义。研究结果表明,邻国革命对国内民主和平等水平产生了积极影响。我们观察到民主指数和经济平均主义指数的显着增加,尽管平均主义措施之一对所有模型规格都是稳健的。此外,我们发现孤立的“抗议主导的驱逐者”可以适度增加选举权和我们的平均主义指数之一,而政变似乎不会影响民主或不平等变量。通过检查跨时间和空间的各种剧变类型和结果,这项研究阐明了全球动员和局部变化之间的因果关系,提供有关全球事件如何影响国内结果的见解。