Date of Award
Winter 12-2014
Degree Name
Master of Arts (AM/MA)
Degree Type
Thesis
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to determine what causes certain countries to experience mass protests during economic crises while other governments weather the same events and emerge unscathed. Further research on this topic could predict the likelihood of protests that lead to state collapse in countries like Ukraine. I argue that high gross domestic product expenditure on social services creates a dependent society that will protest when those goods and services are threatened by banking crises. I originated this theory and titled it the Government Dependency Theory. My theory uses data from 147 banking crises occurring in 115 countries from 1979 to 2013 to point out this causal connection between state services and protests. After global trend analysis, case study research, and expert interviews, it is apparent that countries with a citizenship that is highly dependent on government provided social services will experience increased numbers of protests when economic crises threaten those benefits.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Dawn Brancati
Committee Members
Ignacio Sanchez Prado, Andrew Sobel
Recommended Citation
Bickel, Titus, "Government Dependency Theory: Public Services, Banking Crisis, and the Likelihood of Protests" (2014). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 17.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/17
Comments
Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/K7ZC80TH