The wealthier a country, the more likely it is to be and to remain democratic.
The survival version holds better than the transition version. Przeworski and Limongi found wealth predicts democratic durability far more reliably than it predicts democratisation.
In practice
- A wealthy democracy weathers a corruption scandal, a slump and a disputed election, and is still a democracy at the end of them.
- A rich autocracy grows richer for thirty years, and the same party is in office throughout.
- Standing
- The survival version holds up better than the transition version: Przeworski and Limongi found wealth predicts democratic durability more reliably than democratisation.
- Subject
- Law & Politics
- Essay
- What can be proved and measured about power