Economic development and democracy: An electoral connection |
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Authors: | CARL HENRIK KNUTSEN JOHN GERRING SVEND-ERIK SKAANING JAN TEORELL MATTHEW MAGUIRE MICHAEL COPPEDGE STAFFAN I. LINDBERG |
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Affiliation: | 1. University of Oslo, Norway;2. University of Texas at Austin, USA;3. Aarhus University, Denmark;4. Lund University, Sweden;5. Boston University, USA;6. University of Notre Dame, USA;7. University of Gothenburg, Sweden |
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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. |
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Keywords: | democracy democratisation elections economic development modernisation |
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