Aiding Democracy in Tension: A study of the relationship between Official Development Assistance and Quality of Democracy

Abstract: The aim of this study is to bring further understanding to the contested relationship between development aid and democracy. By introducing quality of democracy as an alternate measure to the ones previously used, the ambition is to approach the subject from a new perspective. In this thesis, the following research question will be answered: To what extent does Official Development Assistance (ODA) affect the quality of democracy in the recipient countries? In order to enable a more detailed assessment on the relationship, the effects of aid on the three levels of democratic quality will also be investigated. The research question is approached through a quantitative method, utilising data consisting of observations on 53 democratic regimes that has received aid during the time period 1995-2010. The concluding results indicate that, although there is no overall effect of development aid on quality of democracy, ODA does have an impact on the quality of the different levels. As the levels of democratic quality are affected differently, indicating both negative and positive relationships, both sides of previous research gain support. The difference in effect directionality may be explained by variations in recipient priorities and trade-offs between the democratic dimensions.