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Economic development and democracy: An electoral connection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Carl Henrik Knutsen ,
John Gerring ,
Svend‐Erik Skaaning ,
Jan Teorell ,
Matthew Maguire ,
Michael Coppedge  and
Staffan I. Lindberg
Carl Henrik Knutsen*
Affiliation:
University of Oslo, Norway
John Gerring
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Svend‐Erik Skaaning
Affiliation:
Aarhus University, Denmark
Jan Teorell
Affiliation:
Lund University, Sweden
Matthew Maguire
Affiliation:
Boston University, USA
Michael Coppedge
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame, USA
Staffan I. Lindberg
Affiliation:
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
*
Address for correspondence: Carl Henrik Knutsen, Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Moltke Moes vei 31, 0851 Oslo, Norway. Email: c.h.knutsen@stv.uio.no.
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Abstract

Scholars continue to debate whether economic development affects regime type. This article argues that a clear relationship exists between development and the electoral component of democracy, but not – or at least less so – between development and other components of broader understandings of democracy. This is so because development enhances the power resources of citizens and elections provide a focal point for collective action. The theory is tested with two new datasets – Varieties of Democracy and Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy – that allow us to disaggregate the concept of democracy into meso‐ and micro‐level indicators. Results of these tests corroborate the theory: only election‐centred indicators are robustly associated with economic development. This may help to account for apparent inconsistencies across extant studies and shed light on the mechanisms at work in a much‐studied relationship. Further analysis shows that development affects electoral democracy by reducing electoral fraud, election violence and vote buying.

Keywords

democracydemocratisationelectionseconomic developmentmodernisation

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Type
Original Articles
Information
European Journal of Political Research , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , pp. 292 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 European Consortium for Political Research

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