Conclusion

Abstract

Democracies become unstable when people experience serious frustration with policy outcomes. Such frustration is caused by the gap between expectations and reality. This study examines one of the major sources of such frustration, which is inequality. As the majority of the population comprises the lower-income group in emerging democracies, inequality is supposed to be reduced by government policies through a democratic political process. However, the effects of democracy on inequality reduction are not universal in such democracies. Hence, a democracy’s capacity can be measured by the extent to which the government reduces inequality. This study claims that three specific political factors obstruct redistributive policies in emerging democracies. These factors are multidimensional preferences, the failure of political market, and weak state capacity. By revealing deficiencies of political process caused by these factors, this study provides clues to understanding the instability observed in emerging democracies. The degree of seriousness of these three factors indicates the probability of political instability as they affect the gap between expectations and reality.