Franco Giraldo, Álvaro, Álvarez-Dardet, Carlos, Ruiz-Cantero, María Teresa
Effect of democracy on health: ecological study
FRANCO GIRALDO, Álvaro; ÁLVAREZ-DARDET DÍAZ, Carlos; RUIZ CANTERO, María Teresa. "Effect of democracy on health: ecological study". BMJ. Vol. 329 (Dec. 2004). ISSN 0959-8146, pp. 1421-1423
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10045/3139
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.329.7480.1421
ISSN: 0959-8146
Abstract: 
Can political regimes be singled out as a factor affecting health? Rating countries by the extent of
their freedom is a useful proxy for measuring the effects of democracy on health related variables.
Although the influence of democracy in preventing famines has been reported, there have been no
empirical studies on the relation between the extent of freedom allowed by political regimes and the effect on
a nation’s health. We explored the effect of democracy on life expectancy and maternal and infant mortality
in most countries, taking into account a country’s wealth, its level of inequality, and the size of its public sector.
Keywords:Democracy, Health
BMJ Publishing Group
info:eu-repo/semantics/article