Political Credibility: A Crucial Factor for Growth

Thus far we have argued that differing political systems might provide the crucial link in understanding differences in growth performance between countries. The term ‘political system’ is very broad and is interpreted differently by different scholars. Some concentrate mainly on democracies and their idiosyncrasies: direct and indirect democracy, the paradoxes of voting and so on. The image of a benevolent dictator underlies many economists’ political framework. Others take the malevolent or self-serving dictator as their point of reference.