Kas. Wickrama et Cl. Mulford, POLITICAL DEMOCRACY, ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT, DISARTICULATION, AND SOCIAL WELL-BEING IN DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES, Sociological quarterly, 37(3), 1996, pp. 375-390
The level of political democracy is hypothesized to have an independen
t positive effect on social well-being irrespective of either level of
economic development or level of disarticulation of economies of deve
loping countries, which is considered to be the most socially harmful
structural feature created by dependency. In addition, political democ
racy is hypothesized to buffer the negative effects of disarticulation
on social well-being. Findings from the analysis of data from eighty-
two developing countries confirm these hypotheses. Political democracy
showed a consistent positive effect on social well-being measures, an
d the least democratic countries were more vulnerable to the negative
effects of disarticulation. These findings underscore the independent
positive role that political democracy may play in improving social we
ll-being in developing countries.