Democracies Deliver Better Economic Opportunities, Rights, and Health for Their People

Democracies are imperfect, but autocracies are irredeemable. Evidence shows that despite the flaws of democratic governments, they generally provide better quality-of-life outcomes for people than autocratic governments. As the old saying goes, when it comes to forms of government, Americans cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

Here are some ways democracies produce better outcomes for everyday people than do autocracies:

• Economy. Democracies are generally more prosperous. Countries that switched from an autocracy to a democracy increased their gross domestic product by 20 percentage points on average after 25 years. Democracy also acts as a safety net for the economy, leading to far fewer negative growth rates.
• Health and life expectancy. Democracies increase life expectancy and decrease deaths from noncontagious diseases. Countries that switched from autocracy to democracy saw infant mortality fall by 94 percent on average. In contrast, autocracies “have lower estimated life expectancy, less effective health service coverage, and higher levels of out-of-pocket health spending.”
• Climate change. Democracies consistently perform better than autocracies in adopting policies to combat climate change, one of the most important issues facing humankind. Moreover, air quality is better in cities located in democratic nations.
• Education. Democracies improve children’s access to education and years of schooling. Switching from autocracy to democracy also comes with an increase in secondary school enrollment of almost 70 percent.
• Gender equality. Democracies tend to have greater gender equality than autocracies, and women are more likely to hold key political positions. Additionally, democracies have lower levels of violence against women.
• Peace and conflict. Democracies are far less likely than autocracies to fight wars with one another. Democracies are also less prone to civil war and domestic volatility.
• Human rights. Democracies do better at protecting fundamental human rights and enjoy a broad range of freedoms not traditionally enjoyed in autocracies.
• The internet, access to electricity, and water. Democracies with strong accountability measures “provide 23% more safe water access, 35% more immunization to young children, and up to 40% more electricity access, than autocracies.” Democracies also have an average of 300 percent higher internet connection rates than autocracies.

Though all forms of government are flawed, the data are clear: Democracies deliver for their people. From the economy, to health, to peace and conflict, people are far better served under democratic forms of government than in autocratic states.