Is democracy good for health?

Studies of health have recognized the influence of socioeconomic position on health outcomes. People with higher socioeconomic ranking, in general, tend to be healthier than those with lower socioeconomic rankings. The effect of political environment on population health has not been adequately researched, however. This study investigates the effect of democracy (or lack thereof) along with socioeconomic factors on population health. It is maintained that democracy may have an impact on health independent of the effects of socioeconomic factors. Such impact is considered as the direct effect of democracy on health. Democracy may also affect population health indirectly by affecting socioeconomic position. To investigate these theoretical links, some broad measures of population health (e.g., mortality rates and life expectancies) are empirically examined across a spectrum of countries categorized as autocratic, incoherent, and democratic polities. The regression findings support the positive influence of democracy on population health. Incoherent polities, however, do not seem to have any significant health advantage over autocratic polities as the reference category. More rigorous tests of the links between democracy and health should await data from multi-country population health surveys that include specific measures of mental and physical morbidity.