Based on statistical measures of different degrees of democracy vs. autocracy, this article briefly reviews the progress of democracy around the world during the past 212 years, and places democratic developments in Africa since 1960 in that context. Democracy is positively associated with education, which in turn is associated with lower fertility and greater longevity. Democracy is also associated with reduced corruption. Together, these effects suggest democracy should be good for growth – a hypothesis that is borne out by the data.
Most Read
Vox eBooks
Vox Talks
Events
-
3 - 4 June 2019 / Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, London, W1G 0LZ / Financial Conduct Authority and Imperial College Business School
-
3 - 5 June 2019 / Florence, Italy / Florence School of Banking and Finance, European University Institute
-
10 - 10 June 2019 / DePaul University, Chicago, IL (USA) / MoFiR and DePaul University
-
12 - 12 June 2019 / Barcelona / UPF
-
13 - 14 June 2019 / Barcelona / UPF
