Evidence on Democracy Delivering and the Role of Adaptive Culture in institutions

Facty Friday #3

Democracy delivers on a diverse set of critical outcomes

A study that surveys results from 1,100 cross-country analyses drawn from 600 journal articles published after the year 2000 found that democratically governed countries appear to be better governed overall than autocratically governed countries. Most studies reported either a positive or null relationship with democracy across a range of outcomes including social policy, economic policy, citizenship and human rights, military and criminal justice, and overall governance. Democratic effects are more likely to be found for outcomes that are easily attained than for those that lie beyond the reach of government but are often of great normative importance.

Culture matters, is adaptable, and can shape and be shaped by institutions

A recent paper proposes a new framework for studying the interplay between culture and institutions. The framework builds from recent sociology literature and interprets culture as a “repertoire", which allows rich cultural responses to changes in the environment and shifts in political power. They emphasize the malleability and fluidity of cultures, especially in their ability to generate cultural configurations that support different political traditions, ideas and institutions. Culture matters as it shapes the set of feasible cultural figurations and via this channel institutions. Yet, changes in politics and institutions can cause a rewiring of existing attributes, generating very different cultural configurations. Cultural persistence may result from the dynamics of political and economic factors - rather than being a consequence of an unchanging culture. In other words, culture is not fixed and new configurations can emerge that support democracy - or its alternative.

Do you have a study we should share for a future Facty Friday? Send an email to drg.el@usaid.gov!