Making Democratic Governance Work: How Regimes Shape Prosperity, Welfare, and Peace

by Pippa Norris

Overview

This book focuses on three core questions. Is democratic governance good for economic prosperity? Has this type of regime accelerated progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, social welfare, and human development? Does it generate a peace-dividend and reduce conflict at home? Despite the importance of understanding these questions and the vast research literature generated, remarkably little consensus has emerged about any of these issues. Within the international community, democracy and governance are widely advocated as intrinsically desirable and important goals. Nevertheless, alternative schools of thought continue to dispute their consequences – and thus the most effective strategy for achieving a range of critical developmental objectives. Some believe that human development is largely determined by structural conditions in each society, such as geographic location, natural resources, and the reservoir of human capital, so that regimes have minimal impact. Others advocate promoting democracy to insure that leaders are responsive to social needs and accountable to citizens for achieving better schools, clinics, and wages. Yet others counter that governance capacity is essential for delivering basic public services, and state-building is essential in post-conflict reconstruction prior to holding elections. This book advances the argument that both liberal democracy and state capacity need to be strengthened in parallel to ensure effective development, within the constraints posed by structural conditions. Liberal democracy allows citizens to express their demands, to hold public officials to account, and to rid themselves of incompetent, corrupt, or ineffective leaders. Yet rising public demands that cannot be met by the state are a recipe for frustration, generating disillusionment with incumbent officeholders, or, if discontent spreads to becomes more diffuse, with the way that the regime works, or even ultimately with the promise of liberal democracy ideals. Thus governance capacity is also predicted to play a vital role in advancing human security, so that states have the capacity to respond effectively to citizen's demands. The argument is demonstrated using systematic evidence gathered from countries worldwide during recent decades and selected cases illustrating the effects of regime change on development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107602694
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/27/2012
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Pippa Norris is the Paul F. McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at Harvard University and an ARC Laureate Fellow and Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. She is the author of a dozen related books published by Cambridge University Press, including Driving Democracy (2008) and Democratic Deficit (2011). Her contribution to the humanities and social science has been recognized most recently by the award of the 2011 Johan Skytte prize (with Ronald Inglehart) and the 2011 Kathleen Fitzpatrick Australian Laureate Fellowship.

Table of Contents

Part I. Introduction: 1. Does democratic governance determine human security?; 2. Theories of regime effects; Part II. Comparing Regimes: 3. The regime typology; 4. Analyzing regime effects; Part III. Development Outcomes: 5. Prosperity; 6. Welfare; 7. Peace; Part IV. Conclusions: 8. Why regimes matter.

Editorial Reviews

Political science has focused heavily on democratic institutions in recent years but far less on the understanding of basic state capacity, whose absence often undermines democracy. Making Democratic Governance Work is an important book that helps enormously to fill this critical gap in our understanding.” – Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University

“This book is a landmark study of one of the most heated questions in social science: do political institutions determine human welfare, and if so, to what extent? The answer is a resounding, but qualified, ‘yes.’ Combining rigorous conceptual analysis with a wealth of data, Norris shows that liberal democracy is not enough for creating human well-being if states lack the capacity to implement policies. Her argument that international development organizations should promote both liberal democracy and the quality of government is both timely and convincing.” – Bo Rothstein, August Röhss Chair in Political Science, University of Gothenburg

“Pippa Norris has done it again. With masterful grasp of the literature and a breathtaking tour de force through vast masses of empirical data, she comes through with one simple and crystal clear conclusion: it's not a question of promoting democracy or building state capacity; it's a question of doing both. This book deserves to be read well beyond the boundaries of academia.” – Jan Teorell, Professor of Political Science, Lund University

From the Publisher