What is Political Democracy? Or Perhaps More Importantly, How Do We Measure It?

• In Event: 366 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session II
  In Refereed Roundtable: B. Table 03. Political Sociology I

Abstract

The Polity scores and other measures of the ‘level’ of democracy have been quite popular in the literature on the political determinants of health and other outcomes. To define democracy and assess a particular nation as democratic is quite difficult, however. As Munck and Verkuilen (2002) point out, the conceptualization of democracy is an evolving theoretical challenge, so much so that there is little point debating which definition is best. Different authors focus on different characteristics when determining which countries are democratic. Arguably, though, the best conceptualization might be one that reasonably fits the needs and interests of the researcher. For studies that emphasize competing explanations for how democracy affects health and other outcomes, Przeworski’s (1991, p. 10) definition may be the most useful: democracy is a political “system in which parties lose elections. … There is competition, organized by rules. And there are periodic winners and losers.” In other words, borrowing also from Sen (1994), democracy is a model of governance in which citizens choose their leaders by voting their preferences among a selection of candidates in elections that are regular, free, fair, and competitive. Rooted in popular theories in sociology, this paper argues that compared to more encompassing definitions, a minimalist definition of ‘democracy’ optimizes a researcher’s ability to test the factors that may mediate its impact on health.

Author

• Andrew C. Patterson, University of British Columbia