The Impact of Autocratization on Economic Growth and Population Health

• In Event: Regime Type, Regime Evolution, Public Policy, and Human Development

Abstract

This paper provides a critical review of the literature on the consequences of autocratization for economic growth and population health. A central contribution of the review is to separate findings about the impact on these outcomes of the erosion or collapse of vertical accountability (the ability of elections, parties, civil society organizations, and the mass media to check the autocratizing efforts of a chief executive) from findings about the erosion or collapse of horizontal accountability (the ability of the legislature, judiciary, civil service, and subnational governments to check the initiatives of would-be autocrats at the top of the executive branch). Also explored are findings about the impact of alternative modes of regime change (military coups, popular uprisings, executive aggrandizement) on economic growth and population health.

Author

• Masaaki Higashijima, University of Tokyo