Editing Democracy (section)

==Justification==
Several justifications for democracy have been postulated.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gerring|first1=John|last2=Knutsen|first2=Carl Henrik|last3=Berge|first3=Jonas|title=Does Democracy Matter?|journal=[[Annual Review of Political Science]]|date=2022|volume=25|pages=357–375|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-060820-060910|doi-access=free|hdl=10852/100947|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Legitimacy===
[[Social contract|Social contract theory]] argues that the [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimacy of government]] is based on [[consent of the governed]], i.e. an election, and that political decisions must reflect the [[general will]]. Some proponents of the theory like [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] advocate for a [[direct democracy]] on this basis.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Friend|first=Celeste|date=n.d.|title=Social Contract Theory|url=https://iep.utm.edu/soc-cont/|access-date=26 April 2022|website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref>

===Better decision-making===
[[Condorcet's jury theorem]] is logical proof that if each decision-maker has a better than chance probability of making the right decision, then having the largest number of decision-makers, i.e. a democracy, will result in the best decisions. This has also been argued by theories of [[Wisdom of the crowd|the wisdom of the crowd]]. Democracy tends to improve [[conflict resolution]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002793037001002|doi=10.1177/0022002793037001002|title=Democracy and the Management of International Conflict|date=1993|last1=Dixon|first1=William J.|journal=Journal of Conflict Resolution|volume=37|pages=42–68}}</ref>

===Economic success===
{{Main|Democracy and economic growth}}

In ''[[Why Nations Fail]]'', economists [[Daron Acemoglu]] and [[James A. Robinson (economist)|James A. Robinson]] argue that democracies are more economically successful because undemocratic political systems tend to limit markets and favor [[Monopoly|monopolies]] at the expense of the [[creative destruction]] which is necessary for sustained [[economic growth]].

A 2019 study by Acemoglu and others estimated that countries switching to democratic from authoritarian rule had on average a 20% higher GDP after 25 years than if they had remained authoritarian. The study examined 122 transitions to democracy and 71 transitions to authoritarian rule, occurring from 1960 to 2010.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Democracy Does Cause Growth|author1=Daron Acemoglu|author2=Suresh Naidu|author3=Pascual Restrepo|author4=James A. Robinson|journal=Journal of Political Economy|volume=127|number=1|date=February 2019|pages=47–100|doi=10.1086/700936|hdl=1721.1/124287|s2cid=222452675|url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w20004.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Acemoglu said this was because democracies tended to invest more in health care and human capital, and reduce special treatment of regime allies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/04/24/135720/democracy-dividend/|title=Democracy dividend|magazine=[[Technology Review]] MIT News|author=Peter Dizikes|date=24 April 2019|page=03}}</ref>

A 2023 study analyzed the long-term effects of democracy on economic prosperity using new data on GDP per capita and democracy for a dataset between 1789 and 2019. The results indicate that democracy substantially increases economic development.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pelke|first1=Lars|title=Reanalysing the link between democracy and economic development|journal=[[International Area Studies Review]]|date=2023|volume=26|issue=4|pages=361–383|doi=10.1177/22338659231194945|doi-access=free}}</ref>