ECONOMY AND DEMOCRACY RELATIONSHIP: THE CASE OF KENYA AND ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Especially after the Industrial Revolution and Karl Marx's studies in political economy, the examination of the relationship among economy and democracy has gained popularity. The expression generally put forward within the scope of this relationship is that there is a cause-effect relationship that works from economic developments to democratic development. Hence, based on the aforementioned correlation, the attainment of the requisite level of economic progress constitutes a prerequisite for the development of democracy in a given nation. As put forward by Weber, in order to reach a democracy that has the necessary conditions in the modern sense, capitalist industry must first develop. According to this flow from economy to democracy, it is stated that countries with higher indicators in certain areas of the economy are more inclined to develop democratic forms of government. This situation has been determined by many quantitative studies and the flow from economic development to democratic development has been confirmed. Among the reasons for this situation are that economic development contributes to the development of education and strengthens the mental structure towards democracy. The stated reasons came together and the result was that the population became a more open society, thus increasing the desires of societies for a democratic system. In light of this, this study has appraised the correlation between the economy and democracy, and has ascertained that the flow from the economy to democracy holds true for both Kenya and Ethiopia.