Case for Democracy
A campaign in defense of Democracy to translate and distribute knowledge and ideas from the academic sphere to policymakers and practitioners. The goal is to actively outline and promote the socio-economic and security benefits inherent in a more democratic world.
About
The world is currently experiencing a wave of autocratization characterized by increasing executive power, erosion of democratic norms, and a general tendency toward less freedom. One-third of the world’s population – 2.6 billion people – now lives in countries undergoing autocratization.
In light of these challenges to democracies worldwide, the V-Dem Institute, with financial support from the European Union, initiated the “Case for Democracy” program. Its goals are to:
- Collate the latest, most rigorous scientific evidence on the dividends of democracy in key areas of development;
- Bring together leading scholars with policymakers and practitioners to share and discuss the evidence to facilitate a coherent narrative on why democracy support and protection is important;
- Distribute the evidence on the dividends of democracy widely among democracy support and protection stakeholders around the world.
Case for Democracy Report
The Case for Democracy report summarizes the findings of the program, and contradicts the notion sometimes put forward by autocratic regimes, that they are better suited to do a more efficient job of providing economic and human development.
Case for Democracy Policy Briefs
The evidence of the dividends of democracy on several key areas is collated in eight Policy Briefing Papers. Read and Download:
- Does Democracy Promote Gender Equality?
- Can Democracy Limit Corruption?
- Do Democracies Perform Better Combatting Climate Change?
- Does Democracy Bring International and Domestic Peace and Security?
- Does Democracy Increase Global Health?
- Are Democracies Better for Social Protection of the Poor, Gender Equality, and Social Cohesion?
- Does Democracy Cause Economic Growth, Stability, and Work for the Poor?
- Does Democracy Improve Public Goods Provision?
- Democracies Produce More Transparent and Higher-Quality Data
- Does Democracy Have Dividends for Education?
Case for Democracy Events
The “Case for Democracy” program has so far featured two main events: The Case for Democracy hybrid Brussels Conference 2021, and the Case for Democracy Webinar Week 2021.
The Case for Democracy Conference, Brussels
From November 30th to December 1st, 2021, 26 scholars and over 400 policymakers and practitioners participated in a hybrid onsite/virtual conference held in Brussels on the Case for Democracy. Scholars presented scientific evidence on the dividends of democracy across six broad areas:
Day 1:
- Economic Development and Reducing Poverty
- Education and Empowering Women
Day 2:
- Peace and Human Security
- Sustainable Environment and Climate Change Mitigation
- SHuman Development and Global Health
- Public Goods and Corruption
The final conference program is available below. You can watch the full Conference on YouTube using the links below:
Onsite/Hybrid Case for Democracy Conference, Brussels
From November 30th to December 1st, 2021, 26 scholars and over 400 policymakers and practitioners participated in a hybrid onsite/virtual conference held in Brussels on the Case for Democracy. Scholars presented scientific evidence on the dividends of democracy across six broad areas. The conference report summarizes these findings and discussions.
Webinar Week 2021
From March 22–25, 2021 this week featured five 1.5-hour webinars bringing together academics and policymakers in a dialogue based on state-of-the art scientific findings on the dividends of democracy for a series of development outcomes. The webinars are accessible on YouTube via the links below:
- Webinar 1: Economic Development (SDG 1, 8, and 10)
- Webinar 2A: Human Development - Enabling Hard and Social Infrastructures (SDG 3, 5, and 16)
- Webinar 2B: Human Development – Health (SDG 3)
- Webinar 3: Human, Domestic, and International Security (SDG 5 and 16)
- Webinar 4: Combating Climate Change (SDG 13)