Political change, however, is more often than not conditioned by domestic factors. In this book, these factors are emphasized. Countries in the region were highly influenced by the presence or absence of economic growth. How elites responded to crises also could explain moment that allowed for political change to occur. As time, social movement have also contributed to the erosion of authoritarian rule, or the emergence of democracy. These factors can be compared to assess their degree of explanatory reach in these cases. Yet, we also need to recognize some factors that are more specific to the region or to one or two countries. The following sections present some explanatory propositions for understanding some of the broad strokes of political change in Southeast Asia.
Growth, development and political change
Economic development has long been associated with democratic political. Seymour Martin Lipset in 1959 established a correlation between high levels of economic development and democracy (Lipset, 1959). He found that the more advanced economies, measured as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, were all stable, advanced democracies. Lipset postulated that such an association arose out of the greater wealth, education and urbanization of developed economies. Those circumstances created greater demand for openness and competition.
An offshoot of this argument emphasizes the role of the middle class. The argument is a narrower one that emphasizes how the middle class typically prefers more active participation in politics and representation of their interests. Its members tend to be educated, work as professionals or office workers, can be civil servants or teachers and students as well. They are likely to live in urban areas, create associations and