The Historical Origins of Democracy and Autocracy in India and China (audio)

In his widely-acclaimed 2011 book Origins of Political Order, Fukuyama explores the divergent trajectory of political and institutional development across societies. His new CGD Working Paper "What is Governance?" presents a framework for quantifying governance across countries. As part of the Understanding India Series, Fukuyama will contrast the evolution of political institutions in India and China.

In some ways, both India and China defy—in almost opposite ways – the general pattern of higher incomes being associated with more democratic institutions: India has sustained democracy at very low levels of income and Chinese political institutions are defying the modernization hypothesis. Fukuyama will discuss these issues and the application of his new framework for quantifying governance in China and India.

*This seminar series is organized by CGD's Understanding India initiative, which explores India's development challenges and experiences and the lessons they might offer for other developing countries.

Listen to audio from the event here: