Democracy and Growth in the Twenty-first Century

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxv

   PDF

2. Introduction: Democracy, Innovation and Growth

   • Francesco Grillo, Raffaella Y. Nanetti

   Pages 1-56

3. Making Democracy Work for Innovation

   • Francesco Grillo, Raffaella Y. Nanetti

   Pages 57-82

4. China: Advantages and Risks of the Entrepreneurial State

   • Francesco Grillo, Raffaella Y. Nanetti

   Pages 83-164

5. Italy: Simultaneous Crisis of Democracy, Innovation and Economic Efficiency

   • Francesco Grillo, Raffaella Y. Nanetti

   Pages 165-239

6. Knowledge Democracy as Key to Twenty-First Century

   • Francesco Grillo, Raffaella Y. Nanetti

   Pages 241-282

7. Back Matter

   Pages 283-286

   PDF

Is democracy still the best political regime for countries to adapt to economic and technological pressures and increase their level of prosperity? While the West seems to have stagnated in an environment of political mistrust, increasing inequality and low growth, the rise of the East has shown that it may not be liberal democracy that is best at accommodating the social mutations that technologies have triggered.


 
The cases of China and Italy form the research focus as two extremes in growth performance. China is the star of globalisation in the East, while Italy is the laggard of globalisation in the West and a laboratory of creeping political meltdown now shared by other major Western economies. But is this forever?
 
Introducing the ‘innovation paradox’ as the main challenge to the West and the notion of ‘knowledge democracy’ as key to sustainable growth, this book presents a new side to the debate on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (or fifth as the authors argue). It is a vital reading for all those questioning what kind of democracy positively impacts innovation as the force whose speed and direction transforms societies and economies.

• Innovation
• Economic Growth
• Economics of the internet
• Participatory Democracy
• Sustainability
• Innovation paradox
• Knowledge democracy
• Chinese economic growth
• Italian economic growth
• Communism
• Fourth Industrial Revolution
• Economic efficiency
• Public economics
• Inequality
• Economic stagnation
• Smart participation
• Entrepreneurial state
• Rise of populism

​“This book offers an interesting view on how societies manage or mismanage innovation strategies in practice and how the wider political and institutional context acts as the intermediary in converting the stated policy goals into actual outcomes. Francesco Grillo and Raffaella Nanetti show how liberal democracies could learn from other regimes in this conversion process without at the same time compromising their core principles.  Solutions to such fundamental problems are never simple, but the comparison of the Chinese and Italian case outlined in this book makes it apparent where one could start.” (Mihkel Solvak, Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia)

“All social and political systems need to evolve so as to survive and thrive, adapting to changing times and technologies. Francesco Grillo and Raffaella Nanetti pose the right questions about our overly-rigid liberal democracies, while illuminating the challenge through a powerful comparison between their own sclerotic Italy and the currently more adaptive authoritarian China.” (Bill Emmott, former Editor of The Economist and author of The Fate of the West)

“By now the literature on China is huge, yet this book stands out in terms of originality and quality. China’s economic and technological advancement is systematically linked to its political system. The comparison with Italy is useful to understand what Western democracies may learn from China’s case.” (Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of Italy and President of the European Commission, Italy)

“This book compares China and Italy, providing a novel perspective. The Chinese people need to find the future direction to maintain sustainable innovation and growth after 40 years of economic success. China may draw some lessons from Italy on how to keep the balance between democratic governance and innovation. Can we have Democracy promoting innovation and innovation promoting democratic governance at the same time?” (Liu Jianxiong, Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China)

“When considering matters of innovation and growth, great value comes from comparing case studies that differ significantly from one another. Patterns that may be invisible in one single context can pop into view when carefully contrasted and compared. This book occupies valuable terrain between long-term structural features, and medium-to-short-term adjustments subject to politics and policy manipulation. It confirms Francesco Grillo’s and his coauthor’s unique capability to master different academic approaches to make sense of a problem which is going to be fundamental. Their four-sided approach to explaining innovation is eminently applicable in these and other settings where stakeholders seek to advance innovation.” (Ernest Wilson, Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication, Los Angeles, USA and visiting fellow at Stanford University, USA)

 

• Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy

  Francesco Grillo

• University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA

  Raffaella Y. Nanetti

Francesco Grillo is advisor to Italy's Minister for Education, Universities and Research on national innovation policies and is affiliated with the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy. He is columnist at Corriere della Sera, holds an MBA from Boston University, USA a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University, UK. He is Managing Director of Vision & Value (consulting firm), and advises the European Commission on innovation and smart specialization. 



Raffaella Y. Nanetti is Professor Emerita of Urban Planning and Policy in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, and part of the core team of the Economic and Social Cohesion Laboratory in London, UK. She is an Associate of Italy's National Research Council (CNR) in Rome. Her main research areas are policy and programme evaluation, research design and methodology, and territorial development policies.

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