IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/soinre/v132y2017i3d10.1007_s11205-016-1343-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Cengiz Erisen

    (TOBB University of Economics and Technology)

  • Evren Celik Wiltse

    (South Dakota State University)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Cengiz Erisen & Evren Celik Wiltse, 2017. "Dividedness, Institutions and Economic Performance: A Cross-National Analysis of Democratic Stability," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1145-1161, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:132:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1343-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1343-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-016-1343-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11205-016-1343-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Douglass C. North & John Joseph Wallis & Barry R. Weingast, 2006. "A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History," NBER Working Papers 12795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ming-Chang Tsai & Leslie Laczko & Christian Bjørnskov, 2011. "Social Diversity, Institutions and Trust: A Cross-National Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 101(3), pages 305-322, May.
    3. Omar McDoom & Rachel M. Gisselquist S., 2015. "The conceptualization and measurement of ethnic and religious divisions: Categorical, temporal, and spatial dimensions with evidence from Mindanao, the Philippines," WIDER Working Paper Series 022, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Weingast,Barry R., 2013. "Violence and Social Orders," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107646995.
    5. Merkel, Wolfgang, 2004. "Embedded and defective democracies," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 11(5), pages 33-58.
    6. Przeworski,Adam & Alvarez,Michael E. & Cheibub,Jose Antonio & Limongi,Fernando, 2000. "Democracy and Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521793797, September.
    7. Weingast, Barry R., 1997. "The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of the Law," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(2), pages 245-263, June.
    8. North, Douglass C. & Weingast, Barry R., 1989. "Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 803-832, December.
    9. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Webb,Steven B. & Weingast,Barry R. (ed.), 2013. "In the Shadow of Violence," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107684911, September.
    10. Fearon, James D. & Laitin, David D., 1996. "Explaining Interethnic Cooperation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(4), pages 715-735, December.
    11. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Webb,Steven B. & Weingast,Barry R. (ed.), 2013. "In the Shadow of Violence," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107014213, September.
    12. Peter Wallensteen & Margareta Sollenberg, 2000. "Armed Conflict, 1989-99," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 37(5), pages 635-649, September.
    13. Przeworski,Adam & Alvarez,Michael E. & Cheibub,Jose Antonio & Limongi,Fernando, 2000. "Democracy and Development," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521790321, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lewkowicz, Jacek & Woźniak, Michał & Wrzesiński, Michał, 2022. "COVID-19 and erosion of democracy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    2. Jov{z}e P. Damijan & Sandra Damijan & Osiris Jorge Parcero, 2024. "Is there a size premium for nations?," Papers 2401.05116, arXiv.org.
    3. Deniz Güvercin & Adem Gök, 2023. "Does Economic Growth Bound Political Rights in Non-democracies? An Empirical Evaluation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 265-295, August.
    4. Jože P. Damijan & Sandra Damijan & Osiris Jorge Parcero, 2023. "Is There a Size Premium for Nations?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(4), pages 3974-4016, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Deval Desai & Michael Woolcock, 2012. "The politics of rule of law systems in developmental states: 'political settlements' as a basis for promoting effective justice institutions for marginalized groups," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-008-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    2. Peter J. Boettke & Rosolino A. Candela, 2020. "Productive specialization, peaceful cooperation and the problem of the predatory state: lessons from comparative historical political economy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 331-352, March.
    3. Vahabi,Mehrdad, 2019. "The Political Economy of Predation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107591370.
    4. Méon, Pierre-Guillaume & Sekkat, Khalid, 2022. "A time to throw stones, a time to reap: how long does it take for democratic transitions to improve institutional outcomes?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 429-443, June.
    5. Gehlbach, Scott & Keefer, Philip, 2011. "Investment without democracy: Ruling-party institutionalization and credible commitment in autocracies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 123-139, June.
    6. Sunde, Uwe & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe & Cervellati, Matteo, 2011. "Democratization and Civil Liberties: The Role of Violence During the Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 8315, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Gerhard Wegner, 2015. "Capitalist transformation without political participation: German capitalism in the first half of the nineteenth century," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 61-86, March.
    8. Alfred Reckendrees, 2015. "Weimar Germany: The first open access order that failed?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 38-60, March.
    9. Carl Henrik Knutsen, 2012. "Democracy and economic growth: A survey of arguments and results," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 15(4), pages 393-415, December.
    10. Cervellati, Matteo & Fortunato, Piergiuseppe & Sunde, Uwe, 2014. "Violence during democratization and the quality of democratic institutions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 226-247.
    11. Mulligan, Casey B. & Tsui, Kevin K., 2015. "Political entry, public policies, and the economy," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 377-397.
    12. Cervellati Matteo & Fortunato Piergiuseppe & Sunde Uwe, 2012. "Consensual and Conflictual Democratization," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-51, December.
    13. Erik Grimmer-Solem, 2015. "The mature limited access order at the doorstep: Imperial Germany and contemporary China in transition," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 103-120, March.
    14. Wegner, Gerhard, 2013. "Capitalist transformation without political participation: German capitalism in the first half of the 19th century," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 13/14, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    15. Snigdha Dewal & Jack A. Goldstone & Michael Volpe, 2013. "Forecasting Stability or Retreat in Emerging Democratic Regimes," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(1), pages 32-47.
    16. Dincecco, Mark & Katz, Gabriel, 2012. "State Capacity and Long-Run Performance," MPRA Paper 38299, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik, 2017. "Do Democracies Provide Better Education? Revisiting the Democracy–Human Capital Link," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 186-199.
    18. Mehrdad Vahabi, 2017. "A critical survey of the resource curse literature through the appropriability lens," CEPN Working Papers 2017-14, Centre d'Economie de l'Université de Paris Nord.
    19. Konstantin Yanovskiy & Sergey Shulgin, 2013. "Institutions, democracy and growth in the very long run," Acta Oeconomica, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 63(4), pages 493-510, December.
    20. Andrew T. Young, 2021. "The political economy of feudalism in medieval Europe," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 127-143, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:132:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1343-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.