Democracy and child health in developing countries
Abstract
The rise of democracy across the world brought with it expectations that governments would be more attentive and responsive to the welfare of the people, creating better services and better health. Indeed, a considerable body of scholarship finds that democracy has significant, direct effects on multiple measures of well-being, particularly life expectancy and infant mortality. Despite several recent critiques, the paramount theme is that democracy is good for health. This study contributes to this literature by assessing the relationship between democracy and child diarrhea and malnutrition across 52 developing countries. Using a multilevel modeling strategy, the analysis examines the country-level effects of democracy and development on child health, while simultaneously taking into account wealth, education, and other household characteristics at the individual level. Contrary to much previous scholarship, democracy does not exhibit a significant association with diarrhea or malnutrition. Instead, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and improved sanitation and water have substantial effects on child health at the country level. At the individual level, household wealth and maternal education have the largest health-enhancing impact on child diarrhea and malnutrition. Furthermore, the size and strength of the relationship between wealth and health does not vary by political regime. These results demonstrate the enduring importance of socioeconomic status regardless of political context, and they support a small but growing literature that calls the democracy–health link into question.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
Appendices
| Armenia | Kazakhstan |
| Azerbaijan | Kenya |
| Bangladesh | Kyrgyz Republic |
| Benin | Lesotho |
| Bolivia | Liberia |
| Brazil | Madagascar |
| Burkina Faso | Malawi |
| Cambodia | Mali |
| Cameroon | Moldova |
| Central African Republic | Morocco |
| Chad | Mozambique |
| Colombia | Namibia |
| Comoros | Nepal |
| Cote d’Ivoire | Nicaragua |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Niger |
| Dominican Republic | Nigeria |
| Egypt | Peru |
| Ethiopia | Republic of the Congo |
| Gabon | Rwanda |
| Ghana | Senegal |
| Guatemala | Swaziland |
| Guinea | Tanzania |
| Haiti | Togo |
| Honduras | Uganda |
| India | Uzbekistan |
| Jordan | Zambia |
| Mean | Standard deviation | Minimum | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country level | ||||
| Democracy score | 2.33 | 5.24 | −9.00 | 9.00 |
| Democratic (vs autocratic) | 0.62 | 0.49 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| History of democracy | 0.29 | 0.30 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| History | 0.17 | 0.28 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Improved sanitation and water | 57.79 | 19.86 | 24.50 | 96.50 |
| GDP per capita | 2.88 | 0.86 | 1.06 | 4.89 |
| Individual level | ||||
| Diarrhea | 0.15 | 0.36 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Underweight | 0.17 | 0.38 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Household wealth | 31.00 | 24.24 | 0.00 | 100.00 |
| Mother’s education | ||||
| Primary | 0.33 | 0.47 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Secondary | 0.26 | 0.44 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Higher | 0.05 | 0.22 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Mother employed | 0.49 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Urban residence | 0.37 | 0.48 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Mother’s age | 28.41 | 6.72 | 15.00 | 1.00 |
| Female household head | 0.16 | 0.36 | 0.00 | 49.00 |
| Child’s age | 28.34 | 17.15 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Male | 0.51 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 59.00 |
| Household size | 6.86 | 3.56 | 2.00 | 36.00 |
GDP: gross domestic product.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Diarrhea (country mean) | 1.00 | |||||||
| 2. Underweight (country mean) | 0.12 | 1.00 | ||||||
| 3. GDP per capita | −0.29 | −0.62 | 1.00 | |||||
| 4. Improved sanitation/water | −0.41 | −0.67 | 0.69 | 1.00 | ||||
| 5. Democracy score | 0.08 | 0.11 | −0.17 | −0.14 | 1.00 | |||
| 6. Democratic (vs autocratic) | 0.02 | 0.13 | −0.17 | −0.10 | 0.92 | 1.00 | ||
| 7. History of democracy | −0.24 | −0.02 | 0.29 | 0.28 | 0.61 | 0.64 | 1.00 | |
| 8. History | −0.28 | −0.10 | 0.38 | 0.36 | 0.45 | 0.43 | 0.94 | 1.00 |
GDP: gross domestic product.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Diarrhea | 1.00 | ||||||||||||
| 2. Underweight | 0.03 | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| 3. Primary education | 0.04 | −0.06 | 1.00 | ||||||||||
| 4. Secondary education | −0.03 | −0.11 | −0.41 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 5. Higher education | −0.03 | −0.07 | −0.16 | −0.13 | 1.00 | ||||||||
| 6. Mother employed | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.03 | −0.16 | 0.004 | 1.00 | |||||||
| 7. Household wealth | −0.06 | −0.19 | −0.16 | 0.39 | 0.34 | −0.18 | 1.00 | ||||||
| 8. Urban residence | −0.02 | −0.12 | −0.07 | 0.26 | 0.20 | −0.09 | 0.51 | 1.00 | |||||
| 9. Mother’s Age | −0.04 | 0.01 | −0.04 | −0.12 | 0.05 | 0.15 | −0.01 | −0.02 | 1.00 | ||||
| 10. Fem House Head | 0.01 | −0.03 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.04 | −0.04 | 0.05 | −0.01 | 1.00 | |||
| 11. Child’s age | −0.14 | 0.09 | 0.004 | −0.01 | 0.002 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.20 | −0.001 | 1.00 | ||
| 12. Male | 0.02 | 0.02 | −0.01 | 0.01 | 0.004 | −0.005 | 0.01 | 0.002 | −0.001 | −0.001 | 0.003 | 1.00 | |
| 13. Household size | 0.01 | 0.04 | −0.04 | −0.09 | −0.08 | 0.04 | −0.002 | −0.07 | 0.16 | −0.07 | −0.01 | −0.001 | 1.00 |
References
Altman D, Pérez-Liñán A (2002) Assessing the quality of democracy: Freedom, competitiveness and participation in eighteen Latin American countries. Democratization 9(2): 85–100.
Alvarez M, Cheibub JA, Limongi F, et al. (1996) Classifying political regimes. Studies in Comparative International Development 31: 3–36.
Barclay K, Myrskyla M (2016) Advanced maternal age and offspring outcomes: Reproductive aging and counterbalancing period trends. Population and Development Review 42(1): 69–94.
Beer L, Boswell T (2002) The resilience of dependency effects in explaining income inequality in the global economy: A cross-national analysis, 1975-1995. Journal of World-Systems Research 8: 30–59.
Besley T, Kudamatsu M (2006) Health and democracy. American Economic Review 96(2): 313–318.
Bhattacharya PC (2006) Economic development, gender inequality, and demographic outcomes: Evidence from India. Population and Development Review 32: 263–291.
Blackwell DL, Hayward MD, Crimmins EM, et al. (2001) Does childhood health affect chronic morbidity later in life? Social Science & Medicine 52: 1269–1284.
Bollen KA (1980) Issues in the comparative measurement of political democracy. American Sociological Review 45: 370–390.
Bollen KA (1990) Political democracy: Conceptual and measurement traps. Studies in Comparative International Development 25: 6–24.
Bollen KA (1993) Liberal democracy: Validity and method factors in cross-national measures. American Journal of Political Science 37: 1207–1230.
Bollen KA (2001) Cross-National Indicators of Liberal Democracy 1950–1990 (2nd ICPSR version). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
Bollen KA, Paxton P (2000) Subjective measures of liberal democracy. Comparative Political Studies 33: 58–86.
Bollen KA, Glanville JL, Stecklov G (2001) Socioeconomic status and class in studies of fertility and health in developing countries. Annual Review of Sociology (27): 153–185.
Boutros-Ghali B, et al. (2003) The Interaction between Democracy and Development. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Bradley D, Huber E, Moller S, et al. (2003) Distribution and redistribution in postindustrial democracies. World Politics 55: 193–228.
Brooks C, Manza J (2006) Social policy responsiveness in developed democracies. American Sociological Review 71: 474–494.
Brown DS (1999) Reading, writing, and regime type: Democracy’s impact on primary school enrollment. Political Research Quarterly 52: 681–707.
Buchmann C, Hannum E (2003) The Consequences of Global Educational Expansion: Social Science Perspectives. Cambridge, MA: American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Bühlmann M, Merkel W, Müller L, et al. (2012) The democracy barometer: A new instrument to measure the quality of democracy and its potential for comparative research. European Political Science 11(4): 519–536.
Burroway R (2012) A cross-national analysis of sex-specific HIV prevalence rates and women’s access to property, land, and loans in developing countries. International Journal of Sociology 42: 47–67.
Burroway R (2015) Women’s rights save lives: A cross-national analysis of infant and child mortality and women’s access to land, property, and loans in developing countries. Sociology of Development 1(4): 418–441.
Buvinic M, Gupta GR (1997) Female-headed households and female maintained developing countries? Economic Development and Cultural Change 45(2): 259–280.
Cameron L, Williams J (2009) Is the relationship between socioeconomic status and health stronger for older children in developing countries? Demography 46: 303–324.
Carlton-Ford S (2010) Major armed conflicts, militarization, and life chances: A pooled time-series analysis. Armed Forces & Society 36(5): 864–889.
Chaplin D (2003) Hierarchical linear models: Strengths and weaknesses. Paper presented at the association for public policy analysis and management annual meeting, Washington, DC, 26 October.
Chase-Dunn C (1999) Globalization: A world-systems perspective. Journal of World-Systems Research 5(2): 187–215.
Cheng JJ, Schuster-Wallace CJ, Watt S, et al. (2012) An ecological quantification of the relationships between water, sanitation and infant, child, and maternal mortality. Environmental Health 11: 4.
Cingranelli DL, Richards DL (2010) The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset (version 2010.08.15). Available at: http://www.humanrightsdata.com/p/data-documentation.html
Collier D, Levitsky S (1997) Democracy with adjectives: Conceptual innovation in comparative research. World Politics 49(3): 430–451.
Collier P (2007) The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done about It. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cooper RA, Getzen TE, Laud P (2003) Economic expansion is a major determinant of physician supply and utilization. Health Services Research 38: 675–696.
Corsi DJ, Neuman M, Finlay JE, et al. (2012) Demographic and health surveys: A profile. International Journal of Epidemiology 41(6): 1602–1613.
Dahl RA (1971) Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Diamond L, Morlino L (eds) (2005) Assessing the Quality of Democracy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Drovandi S, Salvini S (2004) Women’s autonomy and demographic behaviour. Population Review 43: 1–31.
Enders CK, Tofighi D (2007) Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multi-level models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods 12: 121–138.
Evans PB (1997) The eclipse of the state? Reflections on stateness in an era of globalization. World Politics 50(1): 62–87.
Fox J (1997) Applied Regression Analysis, Linear Models, and Related Models. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Franco A, Alvarez-Dardet C, Ruiz MT (2004) Effect of democracy on health: Ecological study. British Medical Journal 329: 1421–1423.
Freedom House (2010) Freedom in the world. Available at: https://freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-world
Frey RS, Al-Roumi A (1999) Political democracy and the physical quality of life: The cross-national evidence. Social Indicators Research 47: 73–97.
Gasiorowski MJ (2000) Democracy and macroeconomic performance in underdeveloped countries: An empirical analysis. Comparative Political Studies 33: 319–349.
Gauri V, Khaleghian P (2002) Immunization in developing countries: Its political and organizational determinants. World Development 30(12): 2109–2132.
Gerring J, Thacker SC, Alfaro R (2012) Democracy and human development. The Journal of Politics 74(1): 1–17.
Ghobarah AH, Huth P, Russett B (2004) Comparative public health: The political economy of human misery and well-being. International Studies Quarterly 48: 73–94.
Goldsmith A (1986) Democracy, political stability, and economic growth in developing countries. Comparative Political Studies 18: 517–531.
Gradstein M, Milanovic B (2004) Does Liberté = Egalité? A survey of the empircal links between democracy and inequalty with some evidence on the transition economies. Journal of Economic Surveys 18(4): 515–537.
Guo G, Zhao H (2000) Multilevel modeling for binary data. Annual Review of Sociology 26: 441–462.
Hatt LE, Waters HR (2006) Determinants of child morbidity in Latin America: A pooled analysis of interactions between parental education and economic status. Social Science & Medicine 62: 375–386.
Heaton TB, Forste R, Hoffmann JP, et al. (2005a) Cross-national variation in family influences on child health. Social Science & Medicine 60: 97–108.
Heaton TB, Huntsman TJ, Flake DF (2005b) The effects of status on women’s autonomy in Bolivia, Peru, and Nicaragua. Population Research and Policy Review 24: 283–300.
Herrera YM, Kapur D (2007) Improving data quality: Actors, incentives, and capabilities. Political Analysis 15: 365–386.
Hill K, Upchurch DM (1995) Differences in child health: Evidence from the demographic and health surveys. Population and Development Review 21: 127–151.
Hossain MB, Phillips JF, Pence B (2007) The effect of women’s status on infant and child mortality in four rural areas of Bangladesh. Journal of Biosocial Science 39: 355–366.
Huber E, Nielsen F, Pribble J, et al. (2006) Politics and inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. American Sociological Review 71: 943–963.
Jenkins JC, Scanlan SJ (2001) Food security in less developed countries, 1970 to 1990. American Sociological Review 66: 718–744.
Jensen NM (2003) Democratic governance and multinational corporations: Political regimes and inflows of foreign direct investment. International Organization 57: 587–616.
Kaufman D, Kraay A, Mastruzzi M (2010) Worldwide governance indicators. Available at: http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#home
Kentor J, Boswell T (2003) Foreign capital dependence and development: A new direction. American Sociological Review 68: 301–313.
Klomp J, De Haan J (2009) Is the political system really related to health? Social Science & Medicine 69: 36–46.
Lake DA, Baum MA (2001) The invisible hand of democracy: Political control and the provision of public services. Comparative Political Studies 34: 587–621.
Lee C-S (2005) Income inequality, democracy, and public sector size. American Sociological Review 70: 158–181.
LeGrand TK, Phillips JF (1996) The effect of fertility reductions on infant and child mortality: Evidence from Matlab in rural Bangladesh. Population Studies 50: 51–68.
Lena HF, London B (1993) The political and economic determinants of health outcomes: A cross-national analysis. International Journal of Health Services 23: 585–602.
Lenski G (1966) Power and Privelege: A Theory of Social Stratification. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Li Q, Resnick A (2003) Reversal of fortunes: Democratic institutions and foreign direct investment inflows to developing countries. International Organization 57: 175–211.
Li Q, Reuveny R (2003) Economic globalization and democracy: An empirical analysis. British Journal of Political Science 33: 29–54.
Link BG, Phelan JC (1995) Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 80–94.
Link BG, Phelan JC (2002) McKeown and the idea that social conditions are fundamental causes of disease. American Journal of Public Health 95: 730–732.
Lipset SM (1959) Some social requisites of democracy: Economic development and political development. American Political Science Review 53: 69–105.
London B, Williams K (1990) National politics, international dependency, and basic needs provision. Social Forces 69: 565–584.
Long JS, Freese J (2014) Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables Using Stata, 3rd edn. College Station, TX: Stata Press.
McGuire JW (2002) Democracy, social provisioning, and under-5 mortality: A cross-national analysis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, 1 September.
McGuire JW (2006) Democracy, basic service utilization, and under-5 mortality: A cross-national study of developing states. World Development 34: 405–425.
Macro (2009) Demographic and health surveys: ICF Macro. Available at: http://www.measuredhs.com/
McTavish S, Moore S, Harper S, et al. (2010) National female literacy, individual socio-economic status, and maternal health care use in Sub-Saharan Africa. Social Science & Medicine 71: 1958–1963.
Manin B, Przeworski A, Stokes SC (eds) (1999) Democracy, Accountability, and Representation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marshall MG, Jaggers K (2010) Polity IV project: Political regime characteristics and transitions, 1800–2009 (version p4v2008). Available at: http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm
Matland RE (1998) Women’s representation in National Legislatures: Developed and developing countries. Legislative Studies Quarterly 23(1): 109–125.
Montgomery MR, Gragnolati M, Burke KA, et al. (2000) Measuring living standards with proxy variables. Demography 37: 155–174.
Moon BE (1991) The Political Economy of Basic Needs. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Moon BE, William DJ (1985) Politics, the state, and basic human needs. American Journal of Political Science 29: 661–694.
Moore DS, McCabe GP (2006) Introduction to the Practice of Statistics. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Moore S, Teixeira AC, Sheill A (2006) The health of nations in a global context: Trade, global stratification, and infant mortality rates. Social Science & Medicine 63: 165–178.
Muller EN (1988) Democracy, economic development, and income inequality. American Sociological Review 53: 50–68.
Munck GL, Verkuilen J (2002a) Conceptualizing and measuring democracy: Evaluating alternative indices. Comparative Political Studies 35: 5–34.
Munck GL, Verkuilen J (2002b) Generating better data: A response to discussants. Comparative Political Studies 35: 52–57.
Nelson JM (2007) Elections, democracy, and social services. Studies in Comparative International Development 41: 79–97.
Nussbaum MC (2003) Women’s education: A global challenge. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 29: 325–355.
Nussbaum MC (2004) Beyond the social contract: Capabilities and global justice. Oxford Development Studies 32: 3–18.
Owens E (1987) The Future of Freedom in the Developing World: Economic Development as Political Reform. New York: Pergamon Press.
Przeworski A, Limongi F (1993) Political regimes and economic growth. Journal of Economic Perspectives 7: 51–69.
Przeworski A, Alvarez ME, Cheibub JA, et al. (2000) Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World, 1950-1990. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Puddington A (2015) Freedom in the World 2015: Discarding Democracy: A Return to the Iron Fist. Washington, DC: Freedom House.
Raudenbush SW, Bryk AS (2002) Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Raudenbush SW, Bryk AS, Cheong YK, et al. (2004) HLM 6: Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.
Reuveny R, Li Q (2003) Economic openness, democracy, and income inequality. Comparative Political Studies 36(5): 575–601.
Ross M (2006) Is democracy good for the poor? American Journal of Political Science 50: 860–874.
Sachs JD (2005) The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilites for Our Time. New York: Penguin Press.
Safaei J (2006) Is democracy good for health? International Journal of Health Services 36: 767–786.
Scanlan SJ (2004) Women, food security, and development in less-industrialized societies: Contributions and challenges for the new century. World Development 32(11): 1807–1829.
Scanlan SJ (2010) Gender, development, and HIV/AIDS: Implications for child mortality in less industrialized countries. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 51(3): 211–232.
Sen A (1985) Commodities and Capabilities. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Sen A (1999a) Democracy as a universal value. Journal of Democracy 10: 3–17.
Sen A (1999b) Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor Books.
Shandra CL, Shandra JM, London B (2012) The international monetary fund, structural adjustment, and infant mortality: A cross-national analysis of sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Poverty 16: 194–219.
Shandra JM, Nobles J, London B, et al. (2004) Democracy, dependency, and infant mortality: A quantitative, cross-national analysis of less developed countries. Social Science & Medicine 59: 321–333.
Shen C, Williamson JB (2001) Accounting for cross-national differences in infant mortality decline (1965–1991) among less developed countries: Effects of women’s status, economic dependency, and state strength. Social Indicators Research 53: 257–288.
Shin H (2007) Child health in Peru: Importance of regional variation and community effects on children’s height and weight. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 48: 418–433.
Sirowy L, Inkeles A (1990) The effects of democracy on economic growth and inequality: A review. Studies in Comparative International Development 25(1): 126–157.
Smith LC, Haddad L (2000) Explaining Child Malnutrition in Developing Countries: A Cross-Country Analysis. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.
Sommerfelt AE, Stewart MK (1994) Children’s Nutritional Status: DHS Comparative Studies No. 12. Calverton, MD: Macro International.
Sorensen G (1991) Democracy, Dictatorship and Development. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stratton L, O’Neill MS, Kruk ME, et al. (2008) The persistent problem of malaria: Addressing the fundamental causes of a killer. Social Science & Medicine 67: 854–862.
Studenmund AH (2001) Using Econometrics: A Practical Guide. Boston, MA: Addison Wesley Longman.
Sutcliffe AG, Barnes J, Belsky J, et al. (2012) The health and development of children born to older mothers in the United Kingdom: Observational study using longitudinal cohort data. British Medical Journal 345: e5116. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e5116
Swiss L, Fallon K, Burgos G (2012) Reaching a critical mass: Women’s political representation and child health in developing countries. Social Forces 91: 531–558.
Thomas D (1994) Like father, like son; like mother, like daughter: Parental resources and child height. The Journal of Human Resources 29: 950–988.
Thomas D, Strauss J, Maria-Helena H (1990) How does mother’s education affect child height. The Journal of Human Resources 26: 183–211.
Tsai M-C (2006) Does political democracy enhance human development in developing countries? A cross-national analysis. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 65: 233–268.
UNICEF (2007) State of the World’s Children 2008. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.
UNICEF (2014) State of the World’s Children 2015: Reimagine the Future: Innovation for Every Child. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund.
US State Department ( 2011) Democracy. Available at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/democ/ (accessed 1 March 2011).
Vanhanen T (2000) A new dataset for measuring democracy: 1810–1998. Journal of Peace Research 37: 251–265.
Viterna J, Fallon KM, Beckfield J (2008) How development matters: A research note on the relationship between development, democracy and women’s legislative representation. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 49: 455–476.
Walker CLF, Perin J, Aryee MJ, et al. (2012) Diarrhea incidence in low- and middle-income countries in 1990 and 2010: A systematic review. BMC Public Health 12: 220.
Wejnert B (2005) Diffusion, development, and democracy, 1800–1999. American Sociological Review 70: 53–81.
Wejnert B (2008) Effects of global democracy on women’s reproductive health: 1970–2005, cross-world analysis. Marriage and Family Review 44: 154–172.
Wejnert B (2011) Issues in health, democracy, and development. Research in Political Sociology, Democracies: Challenges to Societal Health 19: 1–10.
Wickrama KAS, Mulford CL (1996) Political democracy, economic development, disarticulation, and social well-being in developing countries. Sociological Quarterly 37: 375–390.
Wigley S, Akkoyunlu-Wigley A (2011) The impact of regime-type on health: Does redistribution explain everything? World Politics 63(4): 647–677.
Wimberley DW (1990) Investment dependence and alternative explanations of third world mortality: A cross-national study. American Sociological Review 55: 75–91.
World Bank (2010) World Development Indicators. Available at: http://databank.worldbank.org (accessed 15 January 2010).
World Health Organization (WHO) (2008) Training Course on Child Growth Assessment. Geneva: WHO.
World Health Organization (WHO) ( 2011) Children’s environmental health > environmental risks > malnutrition. Available at: http://www.who.int/ceh/risks/otherisks/en/index1.html (accessed 4 February 2011).
World Health Organization (WHO) (2013) Diarrhoeal disease: Fact sheet N330. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/
World Health Organization and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (WHO and UNICEF) (2004) Meeting the MDG Drinking Water and Sanitation Target: A Mid-term Assessment of Progress. Geneva: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation.
Young FW (1990) Do some authoritarian governments foster physical quality of life? Social Indicators Research 22: 367–384.
Zweifel TD, Navia P (2000) Democracy, dictatorship, and infant Mortality. Journal of Democracy 11: 99–114.
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published online: November 30, 2016
Issue published: October 2016
Keywords
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in International Journal of Comparative Sociology.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 784
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Articles citing this one
Receive email alerts when this article is cited
Web of Science: 21 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 26
- (In)sufficient institutionalization? Norm articulation in the World He...
- State Capacity and COVID-19: Targeted versus Population-Wide Restricti...
- Is Democracy Associated with Reduction of Poverty, Child Mortality and...
- Does Democracy Matter for Lifespan Inequalities? Regime Type and Prema...
- Global inequities in the prevalence of undernourishment
- Democracy Does Improve Health
- Does Democracy Matter for Public Health?
- Democracy and Health in Developing Countries: New Cross-National Evide...
- Consistencies and contradictions: Revisiting the relationship between ...
- Convergence analysis of health expenditure in Indian states: Do politi...
- Regional Effects of Maternal Mortality Determinants in Africa and the ...
- Voting Up? The Effects of Democracy and Franchise Extension on Human S...
- Regional Effects of Maternal Mortality Determinants in Africa and the ...
- Voting Up? The Effects of Democracy and Franchise Extension on Human S...
- Linking political exposures to child and maternal health outcomes: a r...
- For the children? A mixed methods analysis of World Bank structural ad...
- Does economic freedom improve health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa?
- Democracy and Population Health
- Increases In Women’s Political Representation Associated With Reductio...
- Political competition and public healthcare expenditure: Evidence from...
- Democracy and Infant Mortality in Less-Developed Nations: Dismantling ...
- Democracy, economic growth and government spending in public health in...
- The Sociology of Global Health
- Gender and the Politics of Death: Female Representation, Political and...
- Hungry for Equality: A Longitudinal Analysis of Women’s Legal Rights a...
- Political Economy of Infant Mortality Rate: Role of Democracy Versus G...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
