The impact of remittances on democratization in Asia

Remittances have been much debated regarding the potential political and economic benefits and drawbacks. We argue that in the Asian region, remittances serve as a benefit to democratization. This is due to the impact remittances have on human capital and economic development. Remittances can provide an alternative source of income that is not reliant on the capacity of the state's economic infrastructure. The state could then see an increase in economic participation that could then contribute to general economic growth. At an individual level, a person or family that is receiving additional income through remittances may have more access financially to resources that would have been previously unattainable. At a societal level, the country can see substantial growth in an educated middle class. Further, remittances have an overall democratizing effect within both democracies and autocracies, regardless of the level of development. Using Varieties of Democracy's Episodes of Regime Transformation dataset, we find support for our hypothesis that higher levels of remittances within a country increase the likelihood that a democratizing episode will occur.