| Abstract: |
Whether democracy or capitalism should have normative priority depends on the
philosophi- cal point of view but also how both are defined. The more rele
vant perspective is, however, the positive one. Formally, politics dominate,
bu t the economy often dominates de facto be- cause political decisions
against interests of powerful economic players might cause high so- cietal
costs. Since the downfall of the Iron Wall capitalism spread out much more
than democ- racy. Future development might strongly depend on the development
of the new authoritarian market economies: Can high growth continue wh ile
political rights are largely suppressed, or do they have to concede more and
more to democratic rights in order to ensure further eco- nomic growth? One
would like to see the latter one, but this is by no means sure. |