Dividedness, Institutions and Economic Performance: A Cross-National Analysis of Democratic Stability

Cengiz Erisen () and Evren Celik Wiltse
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Cengiz Erisen: TOBB University of Economics and Technology
Evren Celik Wiltse: South Dakota State University

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2017, vol. 132, issue 3, No 11, 1145-1161

Abstract: Abstract Why divided societies face particular obstacles in maintaining democracy is one of the most challenging questions posed in the literature. Several studies posit that ethnically, religiously, and linguistically divided societies are incapable of establishing and holding a democratic system because of their social divisions and institutional weaknesses. We challenge this argument and examine whether political institutional arrangements (constraints over the executive, geographic distribution of political power, and form of government) in addition to economic performance are the crucial factors of success to establish and sustain a democratic regime and social unity in divided states. We use the Quality of Governance time-series standard dataset to test this hypothesis. By analyzing data on 163 states (1960–2012) we find that institutional constraints imposed over the executive and economic performance are the two primary influential factors in sustaining democratic regimes in multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-religious societies.

Keywords: Dividedness; Fractionalization; Democratic stability; Political institutions; Economic development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1343-0

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