{"id":1199,"date":"2022-04-03T15:49:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T15:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/?page_id=1199"},"modified":"2026-06-26T15:12:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T15:12:41","slug":"democracy-and-development-dd","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/democracy-and-development-dd\/","title":{"rendered":"Democracy & Development (D&D)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Democracy and Development is a 20-hour (3 cfu) course taught between April and June. Lectures take place in Via Conservatorio on Wednesdays (room 23) from 8.30 to 10.15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across world regions, democratic politics is increasingly being challenged. In many countries, democracy’s capacity to deliver the benefits citizens expect from it is ever more questioned, leading to declining public support and the opening up of new spaces for authoritarian options and practices. Through the lenses of comparative political analysis, the course aims at examining the actual relationship between democracy and development, with a primary focus on developing countries. The starting assumption is that democracy can have implications that go beyond notions of political rights, civil freedoms, equality, justice and the likes. The impact of different political regimes on development outcomes, or their capacity “to deliver”, is thus investigated: Are authoritarian states better than democracies at promoting economic prosperity? Do different political regimes produce distinct effects on state consolidation and domestic political order? Do democracies have an inherent advantage in favouring a country\u2019s socio-economic advances, including poverty reduction and welfare improvements? Examining these issues offers an opportunity to fully assess the social and economic implications of political regimes and, notably, of current democratic backsliding and autocratization trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Programme – Topics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Democracy and democratization<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Defining and measuring democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Autocratization<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The consequences of democracy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Political regimes and economic growth<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. The politics of development in Rwanda and Ghana<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Democracy, famines, food security and poverty<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Democracy and inequality<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Required readings, 2025-2026 (valid from June 2026 exam session)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Note<\/strong>: readings in bold<\/strong><\/em> are not required for attending students.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Caplan, Bryan, \u201cThe myth of the rational voter. Why democracies choose bad\npolicies\u201d, Cato Institute –<\/em> Policy Analysis<\/em>, 594, 2007, pp.\n1-28<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Chemouni, Benjamin \u2013 Dye, Barnaby, \u201cThe limits of concentrated power: Bureaucratic independence and electricity crises in Rwanda\u201d, African Affairs<\/em>, 2024 (early view) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Colagrossi,\nMarco \u2013 Rossignoli, Domenico \u2013 Maggioni, Mario, \u201cDoes democracy cause growth? A meta-analysis (of 2000 regressions)\u201d, European Journal of Political\nEconomy<\/em>, 61, 2020, pp.1-44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dorsch, Michael \u2013 Maarek, Paul, \u201cDemocratization and the conditional\ndynamics of income distribution\u201d, American Political Science Review<\/em>,\n113(2), 2019, pp. 385\u2013404<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Haggard, Stephan \u2013 Kaufman, Robert, \u201cThe anatomy of democratic backsliding\u201d, Journal of Democracy<\/em>, 32 (4), 2021, p. 27-41<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Harding, Robin, \u201cMicrofoundations: Voting for Public Goods in Ghana\u201d, in Harding, Robin, Rural democracy: elections and development in Africa<\/em>, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, pp. 85-112<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Kj\u00e6r, Anne \u2013 Therkildsen, Ole, \u201cElections and landmark policies in Tanzania and Uganda\u201d, Democratization<\/em> 20, no. 4, 2013, pp. 592\u2013614<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Knutsen, Carl Henrik, \u201cA business case for democracy: regime type, growth\nand growth volatility\u201d, Democratization<\/em>, 2020, pp. 1505-1524<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Krieckhaus, Jonathan, \u201cDemocracy and Economic Growth: How Regional Context Influences Regime Effects\u201d, British Journal of Political Science<\/em>, 36 (2), 2006, pp. 317-340<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ofosu, George, \u201cDo fairer elections increase the responsiveness of politicians?\u201d, American Political Science Review<\/em>, 2019, 113 (4), pp. 963-979<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rubin, Olivier, \u201cThe merits of democracy in\nfamine protection \u2013 fact or fallacy?\u201d, European Journal of Development\nResearch<\/em>, 2009, 21, pp. 699-717<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sen, Amartya, \u201cFreedoms and needs\u201d, New Republic<\/em>, 1994,\npp. 31-38<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Slater, Dan, \u201cCan Leviathan Be Democratic? Competitive Elections, Robust Mass Politics and State Infrastructural Power\u201d, Studies in Comparative International Development<\/em>, 2008, 43, pp. 252-272<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tudor, Maya (2025), \u201cWhat democracy does \u2026 And does not do\u201d, Journal of Democracy<\/em>, 36(4), pp. 5-19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    V-Dem, Democracy Report 2025. 25 Years of Autocratization \u2013 Democracy Trumped?<\/em>, University of Gothenburg, 2025, pp. 1-64<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Democracy and Development is a 20-hour (3 cfu) course taught between April and June. Lectures take place in Via Conservatorio on Wednesdays (room 23) from 8.30 to 10.15. Across world regions, democratic politics is increasingly being challenged. In many countries, democracy’s capacity to deliver the benefits citizens expect from it is ever more questioned, leading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1199","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199"}],"version-history":[{"count":97,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2099,"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1199\/revisions\/2099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.unimi.it\/carbone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}