“Pretty much every agency or nonprofit out there acts under the assumption that if you help people grow economically, this will lead to democracy,” says Simon Johnson, a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Yet the widespread notion that increasing per capita income will cause democracy simply isn’t true, report Johnson and his colleagues in a recent research article. Instead, their analyses of 500 years of data from around the world show that complex historical…

To read this article and start a full year of unlimited online access, subscribe now!

Already a subscriber?

Need to register for your premium online access,
which is included with your paid subscription?

Support SSIR’s coverage of cross-sector solutions to global challenges. 
Help us further the reach of innovative ideas. Donate today.

Read more stories by Alana Conner.