Modernizing Institutions, Mobilization, and Third World Development: A Cross-National Study

Following the implications of modernization theory, we test via panel regression analysis several hypotheses relating modernizing institutions to the economic development of poor countries. Controlling for the economic constraints imposed by initial poverty and world-system position, we find that the school furthers economic development while exposure to the cinema hinders it. Further analysis shows that these effects vary by political context: in countries with mobilizing regimes, the positive contributions of the school are strong, while in countries with nonmobilizing regimes the adverse effects of the cinemaare strong. Following Portes, we argue that the cinema impedes economic growth by transmitting and promoting Western values incompatible with the social ethos that must accompany programs of national economic development. We discuss the relevance of our findings to the problem of social mobilization in poor countries.