Democracy and State Capacity as Determinants of Life Expectancy: Evidence from Latin America

Does democracy improve life expectancy? Our study analyzes quantitatively and qualitatively the relationship between democracy, state capacity and life expectancy in Latin America, between 1970 and 2010: by conflating the findings of political scientists, sociologists and public health experts, we outline the ways, both direct and indirect, through which this impact unfolds; discuss how these processes developed or failed to develop, in a series of cases; and control this relationship by introducing additional political, economic and social variables. Our findings suggest that both democracy and state capacity improve health conditions: however, the introduction and initial strengthening of democracy lessen the positive impact of state capacity on life expectancy. These conclusions are of consequence: if stronger democracies provide some of the same functions supplied by state capacity, democracy and state capacity act as substitute for each other. Democratization reduces the need for a stronger state in addressing challenging health objectives, as increasing life expectancy, a favorable perspective for developing countries.