Addendum: From a political science perspective, I think economics is vital and a principal factor in shaping how politics play out. This is probably obvious from the abstract, if I didn't think there was a meanful tie I wouldn't do this research. I don't believe economics alone are sufficient to explain politics or achieve political goals, but they can certainly help.

My interest is primarily the neo-Liberal one in the power of economics to subvert authoritarian regimes. The real question under my paper is whether economic globalization in and of itself is a tool for this subversion or merely a means to economic growth and development.