Presentation
Democratic Attributes and Infant Mortality
2012 Conference of the American Political Science Association
(2012)
Abstract
How does democratic politics affect infant mortality? The bulk of existing research has debated whether democracies have lower infant mortality than non-democracies. The variation in infant mortality within democratic and non-democratic regimes can account for this controversy, making it imperative to understand how within regime dynamics shape infant mortality. This paper attempts to do so by examining how three core attributes of democracy: political representation, citizens’ participation, and electoral competition affect infant mortality within one democracy - India. I argue that higher levels of political representation, citizens’ participation, and electoral competition provide political incentives for elected representatives to perform better, thereby enhancing welfare outcomes and reducing infant mortality. The theory is tested by using an error correction model on an original times-series dataset from 28 Indian states between 1981 and 2009. The findings show that measures of political representation and citizens’ participation work to reduce infant mortality.
Keywords
- democratic regime,
- infant mortality,
- representation,
- participation,
- competition
Disciplines
Publication Date
2012
Location
New Orleans, LA
Citation Information
Nisha Bellinger. "Democratic Attributes and Infant Mortality" 2012 Conference of the American Political Science Association (2012) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nisha-bellinger/21/