Democracy and Human Development: A Cross-National Analysis

Abstract: This thesis analyses the effects of democracy and democratisation on human development levels and growth. Theoretically, the idea of development as freedom is incorporated into the classical debate of democracy’s impact on development. Empirically, this is tested in a number of cross-sectional and pooled panel multiple linear regression models, covering the period 1980-2010. Democracy is measured by Freedom House’s political rights and civil liberties, while human development is measured by the HDI. The same regressions are also performed with GDP per capita and economic growth as the dependent variable. In its largest sample, this study covers 146 countries. The results of this study generally support the hypothesis that democracy and democratisation are more important for human development than for economic development. Moreover, the results indicate that democracy and democratisation have positive effects on changes in human development, while they may still have negative effects on economic growth rates. This finding strongly supports the claim that human development is compatible with, and even strengthened by, human freedom and political democracy. Finally, these findings also have some important policy implications, suggesting that democratisation and democracy promotion are important as long as human development, rather than economic growth, is the ultimate developmental goal.