It is clear from the readings this week that there is an empirically observable relationship between democracy and economic growth. What remains unclear is whether or not this relationship is a causal one. Gerring et al’s piece attempts to establish a number of causal mechanisms linking democracy to economic growth, with the important scope condition of time. The following figure, taken from their article, outlines the main causal mechanisms identified:

The discussion they present of democracies’ creation of physical, human, and social capital do not introduce any new or original ideas. In their discussion of political capital, however, the time factor becomes a subject of emphasis. Democratic political arrangements create a number of political outputs that are assumed to have a direct impact on economic performance, i.e. “market-augmenting economic policies, political stability (understood as a reduction of uncertainty), rule of law, and efficient public bureaucracies.” Valuations of these aspects of political capital are dependent on regime length, which Gerring et al. describes as a. ‘learning’ and b. ‘institutionalization’ processes. In sum, Gerring et al. conclude that, if maintained over time, democracy influences economic performance through four main channels – physical, human, social and political capital- constituting a ‘democratic growth effect.