Civilizational culture determines economic and political development outcomes

Evidence

Yet the major differences in political and economic development among civilizations are clearly rooted in their different cultures. East Asian economic success has its source in East Asian culture, as do the difficulties East Asian societies have had in achieving stable democratic political systems. Islamic culture explains in large part the failure of democracy to emerge in much of the Muslim world. Developments in the postcommunist societies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are shaped by their civilizational identities. Those with Western Christian heritages are making progress toward economic development and democratic politics; the prospects for economic and political development in the Orthodox countries are uncertain; the prospects in the Muslim republics are bleak. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 45

Categorization

• QUESTION: Huntington asserts culture as root cause, but this is contested and correlational — worth noting the circularity risk (culture inferred from outcomes, outcomes explained by culture).
• XREF: connects to: Cultural shift and economic transition align but causal direction stays unclear — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1047