The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace

The Democracy Advantage provides an empirically-grounded analysis of the consistently positive development track record of poor countries with democratic governments versus those with more oppressive political systems. Building on the democratic peace literature, Halperin, Siegle, and Weinstein connect the dots of how democracy and development contribute to lower levels of intrastate conflict and popular support for extremist ideologies. This analysis provides a foundation for a series of policy recommendations for how democracy can become a more central feature of US and international engagement in the developing world. The Democracy Advantage is an evenly argued liberal internationalist justification for making democracy a central feature of US foreign policy.

Table of Contents:
Prologue 1. Exposing a 50-Year-Old Myth 2. Democracy and Development: Setting the record right 3. Sustaining New Democracies 4. Democracy and Security 5. Making Development Safe for Democracy 6. Democracy as the Default Option 7. Bringing Democracy Into the Center of a Comprehensive Development Strategy 8. The Great Race Appendices Endnotes Bibliography About the Authors

About the Author :
Morton Halperin is one of America's most respected foreign policy analysts and served in the Clinton, Nixon, and Johnson administrations. He taught at Harvard and is currently the Senior Vice President of the Center for American Progress. Joseph T. Siegle has done extensive research pn developing countries and is the Douglas Dillon Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Michael Weinstein is Director of Programs for the Robin Hood Foundation and publishes frequently on the editorial pages of The New York Times.

Review :
"This book has a very important message--there is a real democratic advantage both in terms of economic development and security. It is certainly a book people who care about democracy will want to have on their shelves. The original edition was already strong and persuasive; the revised edition even more so." --Arend Lijphart, Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of California, San Diego "This valuable and timely volume obliterates the myth--beloved of dictators--that democracy is somehow the enemy of development rather than an essential ally. Here is a treasury of evidence that freedom is not only right--it works." --Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State "It is very rare when you have established experts do a mountainous amount of hard research on a complex new subject. It is rarer still when the subject cuts across the boundaries of foreign policy, economics, and domestic politics. The result is far and away the best book to date making the argument that democracy furthers economic development better than authoritarian rule." --Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus, The Council on Foreign Relations "An important book which debunks the new-old conventional wisdom that economic development requires political authoritarianism. Low income democracies perform better than low income dictatorships on virtually all counts. Both a good read and a must read." --Dani Rodrik, Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy, Harvard University and editor, In Search of Prosperity "The authors' thorough research and rigorous analysis shows that democratic practices greatly aid economic development. At a time of great debate regarding the wisdom of democracy assistance, this volume should be read by all who determine America's foreign policy." --Lorne Craner, President of IRI; former Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor