Democracy and health: Evidence from within-country heterogeneity in the Congo

Soc Sci Med. 2017 Dec:194:10-16. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.10.008. Epub 2017 Oct 12.

Abstract

The literature documents a positive association between democracy and health, and studies supporting this claim have largely relied on cross-country panel analyses. In many developing countries, however, local traditional leaders at the micro-level play a key role in individuals' daily lives while the influence of the national government is largely negligible. In response, this study revisits the relationship between democracy and health using micro-level household data from 816 randomly selected villages in Eastern Congo. We find little or no evidence that health outcomes are better in villages that are governed by elected leaders compared to villages where leaders are not elected. Our data suggest that efforts to improve health outcomes in this setting may need to focus on issues such as gender discrimination and education.

Keywords: Chiefs; Democracy; Democratic Republic of Congo; Health; Micro-level.

MeSH terms

  • Congo
  • Democracy*
  • Developing Countries / statistics & numerical data
  • Federal Government
  • Health Status*
  • Humans
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / standards*
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / statistics & numerical data