Five models of capitalism - Brazilian Journal of Political.PDFVIP

Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, vol. 32, nº 1 (126), pp. 21-32, January-March/2012 Five models of capitalism Luiz CarLos Bresser-Pereira* Besides analyzing capitalist societies historically and thinking of them in terms of phases or stages, we may compare different models or varieties of capitalism. In this paper I survey the literature on this subject, and distinguish the classifica- tion that has a production or business approach from those that use a mainly po- litical criterion. I identify five forms of capitalism: among the rich countries, the liberal democratic or Anglo-Saxon model, the social or European model, and the endogenous social integration or Japanese model; among developing countries, I distinguish the Asian developmental model from the liberal-dependent model that characterizes most other developing countries, including Brazil. Keywords: capitalism; models; varieties of capitalism. JEL Classification: O-01; N-01. When we consider history in terms of stages, we unavoidably also consider it in terms of convergence. Each model of capitalism has a distinct way of organizing production at company level, gives a distinct role to the state, and has distinct in- stitutions and basic values. But in all modern societies there is a popular demand for democracy — for political freedom and for the right to choose government leaders — and this demand always reflects the power of the bourgeoisie based on capital and the power of the professional class based on organization and knowl- edge. Democracy has always been a demand of the poor, which became histori- cally possible when the economic surplus ceased to be appropriated by force and was appropriated by the market. The fear on the part of the rich of expropriation by the poor remained, but it waned as the universal suffrag