Democratic Quality and Human Development in Latin America: 1972-2001
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Date
2009
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WILFRID LAURIER UNIV PRESS
Abstract
This paper analyzes the connection between democracy and human development. In so doing, it examines two main questions: Are democracies better than non-democracies in achieving human development? Among democracies, is there a direct relationship between the actualization of civil and political rights and human development? In answering these questions, we offer a cross-national study of 18 Latin American countries front 1972 to 2001. We use fixed effect models for analyzing out, cross-country, pooled time-series data. The evidence suggests not only that democracies are better than nondemocracies in fostering human development (controlling for wealth), but also that differences in degree of democracy have a significant impact on human development in terms of infant mortality and life expectancy.
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Keywords
CROSS-NATIONAL ANALYSIS, ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT, POLITICAL DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES, INCOME INEQUALITY, SOCIAL-DEMOCRACY, SECTION ANALYSIS, TIME, GLOBALIZATION, DIMENSIONS