Democracy and development: political institutions and well-being in the world, 1950-1990

Abstract

Democracy and development is one of the most important books on the relationship between political regimes and material well-being, the winner of the 2001 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book published in 2000 in the United States in government, politics, or international affairs. Indeed, the book represents an astonishing achievement and deserves attention. Its ambitious goals, its quantity of data, and its sophisticated statistical analysis are noteworthy. Its purpose is no less than to study the impact of political regimes on material well-being, broadly defined as economic growth rates, investment, factor productivity, population growth, birth and death rates and per capita income. The book uses a database of 141 countries from 1950 to 1990, covering 1645 years of democracy and 2482 years of dictatorship, with 39 transitions from democracy to dictatorship and 49 transitions the other way around. It is also a remarkable achievement because of its main finding: political regimes have no impact on development. Accordingly, although political institutions probably matter for development, it seems that thinking in terms of political regimes will not help us to increase our knowledge about the mechanics of development. At the beginning of the book, the authors point out how tricky it can be to ask the wide-ranging question about the relationship between material well-being and political regimes: are dictatorships more effective in leading underdeveloped nations toward nova Economia_Belo Horizonte_16 (2)_345-361_maio-agosto de 2006