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How Personal Is the Political? Democratic Revolution and Fertility Decline

Princeton University, akbailey{at}princeton.edu

Existing theory has identified the capacity of political revolutions to effect change in a variety of social institutions, although relationships between revolution and many institutions remain unexplored. Using historical data from twenty-two European and four diaspora countries, the author examines the temporal relationship between timing of revolution and onset of fertility decline. The author hypothesizes that specific kinds of revolutionary events affect fertility by engendering ideological changes in popular understandings of the individual’s relationship to society and ultimately the legitimacy of couples’ authority over their reproductive capacities. Results demonstrate that popular democratic revolutions—but not institutionalized democratic structures—predict the timing of the onset of fertility decline.

Key Words: fertility • revolution • demographic transition • ideological individualism • European fertility decline • democratic movements

This version was published on October 1, 2009

Journal of Family History, Vol. 34, No. 4, 407-425 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0363199009344692


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