Multi-level modelling of time-series cross-sectional data reveals the dynamic interaction between ecological threats and democratic development
| Autor: | Kusano, Kodai, Kemmelmeier, Markus |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
media_common.quotation_subject
cross-cultural research 050109 social psychology infectious diseases Modernization theory 050105 experimental psychology Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Societal development cross-national analyses 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Sociology Democratization lcsh:Science Adaptation (computer science) Sociocultural evolution media_common Cross-sectional data Multidisciplinary Ecology 05 social sciences democratization Cross-cultural studies Democracy multi-level modelling lcsh:Q Research Article modernization |
| Zdroj: | Royal Society Open Science, Vol 7, Iss 3 (2020) Royal Society Open Science |
| ISSN: | 2054-5703 |
| DOI: | 10.1098/rsos.191804 |
| Popis: | What is the relationship between environment and democracy? The framework of cultural evolution suggests that societal development is an adaptation to ecological threats. Pertinent theories assume that democracy emerges as societies adapt to ecological factors such as higher economic wealth, lower pathogen threats, less demanding climates and fewer natural disasters. However, previous research confused within-country processes with between-country processes and erroneously interpreted between-country findings as if they generalize to within-country mechanisms. We analyse a time-series cross-sectional dataset to study the dynamic relationship between environment and democracy (1949–2016), accounting for previous misconceptions in levels of analysis. By separating within-country processes from between-country processes, we find that the relationship between environment and democracy not only differs by country but also depends on the level of analysis. Economic wealth predicts increasing levels of democracy in between-country comparisons, but within-country comparisons show that democracy declines in years when countries become wealthier. This relationship is only prevalent among historically wealthy countries but not among historically poor countries, whose wealth also increased over time. By contrast, pathogen prevalence predicts lower levels of democracy in both between-country and within-country comparisons. Multi-level modelling also confirms that the within-country effect of pathogen prevalence remains robust even after considering a region-level analysis. Longitudinal analyses identifying temporal precedence reveal that not only reductions in pathogen prevalence drive future democracy, but also democracy reduces future pathogen prevalence and increases future wealth. These nuanced results contrast with previous analyses using narrow, cross-sectional data. Overall, our findings illuminate the dynamic process by which environment and democracy shape each other. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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