The Quality of Democracy In Europe: Its Impact On Economic, Political and Social Performance

Abstract

The quality of democracy is a new concept that tries to explain the reason why democracies have different levels of performance. In 1959, by calculating average of some variables of welfare, Lipset showed that democracies have a better economic performance than another type of regime. By applying simple linear regressions and instrumental-variables regressions, it was found that the Rule of Law, accountability through voting and accountability through the institutions cause economic and social performance in Europe. Electoral participation and membership do not have a direct effect on the results that government offers, but make these procedural elements more effective. In the same way, more years of democracy do not guarantee a better performance but also have an indirect effect in the Rule of Law, accountability through voting and accountability through the institutions in Europe. Citizens' perceptions about the quality of democracy in Europe vary to a very slow pace unless there is a great change on the procedural elements.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n3s1p103