Extreme Bounds of Democracy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Martin Gassebner
  • Michael J. Lamla
  • James Raymond Vreeland

External Research Organisations

  • ETH Zurich
  • Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research - CESifo GmbH
  • Georgetown University
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)171-197
Number of pages27
JournalJournal of Conflict Resolution
Volume57
Issue number2
Early online date26 Jul 2012
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Abstract

What determines the emergence and survival of democracy? The authors apply extreme bounds analysis to test the robustness of fifty-nine factors proposed in the literature, evaluating over three million regressions with data from 165 countries from 1976 to 2002. The most robust determinants of the transition to democracy are gross domestic product (GDP) growth (a negative effect), past transitions (a positive effect), and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development membership (a positive effect). There is some evidence that fuel exporters and Muslim countries are less likely to see democracy emerge, although the latter finding is driven entirely by oil-producing Muslim countries. Regarding the survival of democracy, the most robust determinants are GDP per capita (a positive effect) and past transitions (a negative effect). There is some evidence that having a former military leader as the chief executive has a negative effect, while having other democracies as neighbors has a reinforcing effect.

Keywords

    Democracy, dictatorship, political regime, transitions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Extreme Bounds of Democracy. / Gassebner, Martin; Lamla, Michael J.; Vreeland, James Raymond.
In: Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 57, No. 2, 04.2013, p. 171-197.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Gassebner, M, Lamla, MJ & Vreeland, JR 2013, 'Extreme Bounds of Democracy', Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 171-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002712446132
Gassebner, M., Lamla, M. J., & Vreeland, J. R. (2013). Extreme Bounds of Democracy. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 57(2), 171-197. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002712446132
Gassebner M, Lamla MJ, Vreeland JR. Extreme Bounds of Democracy. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 2013 Apr;57(2):171-197. Epub 2012 Jul 26. doi: 10.1177/0022002712446132
Gassebner, Martin ; Lamla, Michael J. ; Vreeland, James Raymond. / Extreme Bounds of Democracy. In: Journal of Conflict Resolution. 2013 ; Vol. 57, No. 2. pp. 171-197.
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