Being determines consciousness

Here's one of the most striking factoids in all of social science: there has never been a transition from democracy to dictatorship in a country with per capita output greater than or equal to slightly over $6,000 (1990 purchasing power parity) dollars. That's one of the findings of Adam Przeworski's research into democracy and development. Quoting from a paper in which Przeworski and Limongi observe 135 countries each year between 1950 and 1990:

The simple fact is that during the period under our scrutiny or ever before, no democracy ever fell, regardless of everything else, in a country with a per capita income higher than that of Argentina in 1975: $6,055. Thirty-two democracies spent 736 years with incomes above $6,055 and not one collapsed, while thirty-nine out of sixty-nine democracies did fall in countries that were poorer.

And by the way, it hasn't happened since 1990, either.