Democracy & Development

Democracy is in trouble. For nine consecutive years, more coun- tries have suffered a weakening of democratic institutions than have experienced improvement -- the longest such decline in a half-century. Around the world, citizens are losing faith in democracy, and demagogues have exploited their disillusionment.

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One factor driving this growing democratic crisis is the false notion that political rights and socioeconomic welfare are separate or even competing goods. In fact, history suggests the opposite: countries that protect political rights and freedoms are the ones that build lasting prosperity. From our work leading diverse national and international administrations, we know that if democracy and development are to be sustainable, they must be pursued in tandem.

Broad-based development is ultimately about expanding human freedom and agency, so it cannot be achieved without democracy at its core. This is not just a principled approach; it is also practical. It is no accident that democracies account for 27 of the top 30 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index. When people are free to choose their leaders and hold them accountable, sustainable and inclusive growth becomes more likely. The pattern is even clearer when we look at gender equality. Half of all authoritarian regimes perform very poorly on this metric, whereas only 3% of democracies do. No society can thrive if half its population is held back.