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Abstract:
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Since the end of World War II, the world has witnessed the rapid integration of international economies through trade and other forms of globalization. With this unprecedented integration have come policy questions of whether such economic trends have positive or negative implications for the political and security realm: Does globalization reduce or enhance the likelihood of a country turning to democratic forms of governance? Do the effects of trade depend on a country's level of foreign direct investment or foreign debt burden? Finally, do the effects of globalization change over time? This paper finds that international trade does not have a proven significant impact on countries' democracy levels, that FDI has a positive effect on democracy that weakens over time, and that there is no significant relationship between a country's debt burden and its democracy. |