Political Institutions and Human Development : Does Democracy Fulfill its 'Constructive' and 'Instrumental' Role?

Institutions are a major field of interest in the study of development processes. The authors contribute to this discussion concentrating our research on political institutions and their effect on the non-income dimensions of human development. First, they elaborate a theoretical argument why and under what conditions democracies compared to autocratic political systems might perform better with regards to the provision of public goods. Due to higher redistributive concerns matched to the needs of the population democracies should show a higher level of human development. In the following they analyze whether our theoretical expectations are supported by empirical facts. The authors perform a static panel analysis over the period of 1970 to 2003. The model confirms that living in a democratic system positively affects human development measured by life expectancy and literacy rates even controlling for GDP. By analyzing interaction effects they find that the performance of democracy is rather independent of the circumstances. However, democracy leads to more redistribution in favor of health provision in more unequal societies.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Vollmer, Sebastian, Ziegler, Maria
Language:	English
Published:	2009-01-01
Subjects:	ADVERSE EFFECTS, AMOUNT OF MONEY, AVERAGE INCOME, BULLETIN, CANDIDATES, CHECKS, CITIZENS, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, CONSTITUENT, CONTRIBUTION, CULTURAL CHANGE, DEMOCRACIES, DEMOCRACY, DEMOCRATIC CONTROL, DEMOCRATIC REGIMES, DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS, DEPENDENT VARIABLE, DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES, DIRECT DEMOCRACY, DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME, DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS, EARNINGS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC POLICY, ECONOMIC REVIEW, ELECTIONS, ELECTORATE, EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS, EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE, EMPIRICAL FINDINGS, EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATIONS, EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, EQUAL SOCIETIES, EQUALIZING IMPACT, EXPLANATORY VARIABLE, EXPLANATORY VARIABLES, FINANCIAL SUPPORT, FREE EXPRESSION, FREE SPEECH, GLOBAL POLICY, GLOBALIZATION, GOVERNANCE INDICATORS, GOVERNANCE ISSUES, HEALTH SECTOR, HEALTHY LIFE, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN WELFARE, ILLITERACY, ILLITERACY RATE, IMPERFECT INFORMATION, INCOME, INCOME COMPONENTS, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS, INCOME GROUPS, INCOME INEQUALITY, INDIVIDUAL NEEDS, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LABOUR MARKET, LAWS, LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT, LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LIFE EXPECTANCIES, LIFE EXPECTANCY, LITERACY RATES, LIVING STANDARD, LOW INCOME, LOW-INCOME, MACROECONOMICS, MARKET FAILURES, MEAN INCOME, MEDIAN INCOME, MEDIAN VOTER, MEDIAN VOTER HYPOTHESIS, MODERNIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES, NEGATIVE COEFFICIENT, NEGATIVE EFFECT, NEGATIVE IMPACT, NEGATIVE SIGN, NOURISHMENT, OUTPUT, OUTPUTS, POLICY ANALYSIS, POLICY FORMULATION, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, POLITICAL ARENA, POLITICAL DEMOCRACY, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS, POLITICAL OPPOSITION, POLITICAL POWER, POLITICAL RIGHTS, POLITICAL SCIENCE, POLITICAL STABILITY, POLITICAL SYSTEM, POLITICAL SYSTEMS, POOR GROWTH, POOR PEOPLE, POOR POLICIES, POSITIVE EFFECT, POSITIVE IMPACT, POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP, PRO POOR, PROBABILITY, PRODUCTIVITY, PROGRESS, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PUBLIC DEBATE, PUBLIC DEMAND, PUBLIC ECONOMICS, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC FINANCE, PUBLIC GOODS, PUBLIC POLICIES, PUBLIC PROVISION, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SERVICE, PUBLIC SERVICES, PUBLIC SPENDING, QUALITY OF LIFE, REDISTRIBUTIVE EFFECTS, REDISTRIBUTIVE POLICIES, REDUCING POVERTY, REGIONAL DUMMIES, REPRESENTATIVES, RESEARCH EFFORTS, RESPECT, RULE OF LAW, SAVINGS, SAVINGS RATE, SERVICE PROVISION, SIGNIFICANT IMPACT, SOCIAL CAPITAL, SOCIAL SERVICES, SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TAX, TAX RATE, VALUABLE, VOTING PUBLIC, WAR, WARS, WORTH,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20090112163519 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/4015
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