TY - JOUR

T1 - Effective democracy, mass culture, and the quality of elites

T2 - the human development perspective

AU - Welzel, Christian Peter

PY - 2002/10/1

Y1 - 2002/10/1

N2 - This article demonstrates that low corruption and high female representation are two characteristics of elite quality that go closely together and help make "formal" democracy increasingly "effective." However, the quality of elites is not an inherently independent phenomenon but is shaped by a pervasive mass factor: Rising self-expression values that shift cultural norms toward greater emphasis on responsive and inclusive elites. Self-expression values, in turn, tend to be strengthened by growing human resources among the masses. Considered in a comprehensive perspective, these various components are linked through the emancipative logic of Human Development: (1) human resources, (2) self-expression values, (3) elite quality, and (4) effective democracy all contribute to widen the scope of human autonomy and choice in several aspects of people's lives, including their means and skills, their norms and values, as well as their institutions and rights.

AB - This article demonstrates that low corruption and high female representation are two characteristics of elite quality that go closely together and help make "formal" democracy increasingly "effective." However, the quality of elites is not an inherently independent phenomenon but is shaped by a pervasive mass factor: Rising self-expression values that shift cultural norms toward greater emphasis on responsive and inclusive elites. Self-expression values, in turn, tend to be strengthened by growing human resources among the masses. Considered in a comprehensive perspective, these various components are linked through the emancipative logic of Human Development: (1) human resources, (2) self-expression values, (3) elite quality, and (4) effective democracy all contribute to widen the scope of human autonomy and choice in several aspects of people's lives, including their means and skills, their norms and values, as well as their institutions and rights.

KW - Politics

KW - Gender and Diversity

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33645755391&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/b6708150-5ec1-3a16-82f4-c9b6d8e1e14c/

U2 - 10.1177/002071520204300306

DO - 10.1177/002071520204300306

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 43

SP - 317

EP - 349

JO - International Journal of Comparative Sociology

JF - International Journal of Comparative Sociology

SN - 0020-7152

IS - 3-5

ER -