These are the important puzzles that John P. Powelson answers in this original and important work. Building from an intriguing and neglected parallel between the histories of Japan and northwestern Europe, he explores the paths of social and political development in those two regions to isolate a significant linkage between economic development and a wider distribution of political power.
With this parallel between Japan and Europe identified, the author turns to other regions of the world. He finds this special form of power diffusion missing from the histories of Africa, other Asian countries, and Latin America. This sharp distinction provides an important explanation of why development occurred first in Japan and northwestern Europe (and Europe's cultural descendants in North America, Australia, and New Zealand) and why other regions of the world have not experienced similar levels of economic success.
In developing his argument, Powelson shows how diffused political power and coalitions of adverse political powers brought about the checks and balances essential to the emergence of free markets that permits modern economic development. So the author argues that it is the lack of forces bringing about pluralism and balance of power that has thwarted the economic progress of many areas.
Powelson provides a powerful theory that aids our understanding of many current issues: the problems of the Third World, the challenges facing the countries of Western Europe and the former Soviet Union, the sustainability of growth in countries such as China, where free markets are truing to operate in an authoritarian political system, and the long-term health of our own economy.