Does democratization foster state consolidation? A panel analysis of the ‘backward hypothesis’

The established view in political science is that a sound and functioning state has to be in place before democracy can be introduced. State first, and then democracy. While acknowledging that the basic infrastructure of state authority and administration has to be there for a democratic system to be established and work, this paper examines the possibility that democratisation itself may play an important role in the further development and consolidation of a state, particularly in developing regions. It does so by empirically analysing the relationship between, on the one hand, the level of democracy and the duration of a democratic system and, on the other hand, the key dimensions of the state, notably political order and administrative capacity. A panel analysis, covering a population of over 100 countries, sheds light on the relationship between democratization and the state. The degree of democracy of country’s political system, in particular, appears to positively and significantly affect the consolidation of the state and of its individual dimensions.