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Economic development and democracy: An electoral connection

Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Scholars continue to debate whether economic development affects regime type. This article argues that a clear relationship exists between development and the electoral component of democracy, but not – or at least less so – between development and other components of broader understandings of democracy. This is so because development enhances the power resources of citizens and elections provide a focal point for collective action. The theory is tested with two new datasets – Varieties of Democracy and Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy – that allow us to disaggregate the concept of democracy into meso‐ and micro‐level indicators. Results of these tests corroborate the theory: only election‐centred indicators are robustly associated with economic development. This may help to account for apparent inconsistencies across extant studies and shed light on the mechanisms at work in a much‐studied relationship. Further analysis shows that development affects electoral democracy by reducing electoral fraud, election violence and vote buying.
DOI: 10.1111/1475-6765.12282
Authors: Carl Henrik Knutsen, John Gerring, Svend‐Erik Skaaning, Jan Teorell, Matthew Maguire, Michael Coppedge, Staffan I. Lindberg
Institutions: University of Oslo, The University of Texas at Austin, Aarhus University, Lund University, Boston University, University of Notre Dame, University of Gothenburg
Language: English
Open Access status: green
Funders: Aarhus Universitet, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Vetenskapsrådet, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Universitetet i Oslo, Göteborgs Universitet
OpenAlex ID: W3124109706
FWCI: 24.25
Cites: 90
Cited by: 56
Related to: 10