Political Regimes and Economic Growth

Does democracy in the political realm foster or hinder economic growth? Our discussion of this question begins with a review of arguments in favor of, and against, democracy. Then we summarize statistical studies in which political regime is included among determinants of growth and identify some methodological problems entailed in such studies. The conclusion is that social scientists know surprisingly little: our guess is that political institutions do matter for growth, but thinking in terms of regimes does not seem to capture the relevant differences.