Impact of Democracy on Economic Development This paper is an analysis of the mutual relationship between politics and economic development. It analyses the regime dynamics to show that when the paths to democracy vary due to any reasons democracy still survives in the developed countries. The questions that arise from my research are: do political regimes affect the economic development? And does economic development affect the emergence and survival of political regimes?

The two research questions are connected as to be able to determine how political regimes affect economic development, one must ask about the emergence and endurance to the political regimes. A case example is Mali. In the year 1985, per capita income of Mali was $532, dictatorship increased at a rate of 5.35%. Hence the question arises, could economic development have been different if there was democracy in Mali? A comparison of France indicates that in 1985, France which is a democracy had per capita income of $12206 and it grew at a rate of 1.43% (Ndulo 2006).

These statistics indicate that most poor countries have a slower economic development than the rich countries due to democracy. In 1985, Mali was not a democracy as it was full of dictatorship thus slow economic development while France which is a democracy experienced a fast economic growth. This assumption is however not very true as democratic nations are still prone to poor economic growth as there some are underlying factors that affect both economic development and democracy.

We can therefore conclude that democracies are common in economically developed countries as compared to poor countries that have a poor economic growth. The explanation behind this is not because democracies are likely to appear due to economic development, but because of their likelihood of survival should any eventuality occur. Democracy varies with different countries but when the correct democracy is applied there is a higher chance of economic survival.

Reference

Ndulo, Muna. (2006). Democratic reform in Africa: The impact on governance & poverty alleviation. New York, NY: Ohio University Press.