Elections and the Illusion of Democracy: A Comparative Analysis of Democratic Mechanisms

Abstract

In its promotion of democracy abroad, the United States has primarily relied on free and fair elections to bring about democratic ends such as political stability, economic growth, and peace. This thesis addresses the question: compared to other democratic mechanisms, how influential are free and fair elections in bringing about desired democratic ends? This thesis uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the role of two democratic mechanisms—free and fair elections and government functioning –in bringing about desirable democratic outcomes, namely quality of life, political stability, and human and economic development. Government functioning is defined as an amalgamation of a government’s accountability, authority, and effectiveness. The quantitative component analyzes data in 149 different countries to establish an overall trend. It finds that government functioning is a larger determinant of a country’s performance across key socio-economic and political indices than free and fair elections, or even GDP per capita. The qualitative analysis supplements these results with an in-depth analysis of four case studies: Georgia, Singapore, Liberia, and Rwanda. It concludes that countries with high levels of government functioning but low levels of electoral pluralism – Singapore and Rwanda—outperform their counterpart countries with low levels of government functioning but high levels of electoral pluralism –Georgia and Liberia. Thus, this thesis concludes that government functioning is a larger determinant of a country’s ability to secure democratic outcomes than free and fair elections. These findings encourage a re-evaluation of the prioritization of democratic initiatives by the U.S. Department of State, as well as a re-evaluation of the methodology used by major indices such as the Democracy Index in establishing the state of democracy in countries around the world. By unpacking democracy into its various mechanisms, this thesis encourages a more nuanced conversation surrounding democracy and ‘good governance’.