On democracy and happiness

The recent edition of the Foreign Policy magazine (subscription required) delves into the issue of democracy and happiness. Namely, it explores why the common wisdom that democratic nations are happy nations may not always be true. The article gives an example of the former Soviet bloc countries where according to sociological research national happiness has not increased – or even in some cases decreased – despite the advent of elections.

The World Values Survey, for instance, for years now has been asking the question “Overall, how happy are you with your life these days?” to people around the world. One clear trend that emerged from this research is that happy countries tend to be wealthy and stable democracies. But it’s not enough for a country to be a democracy in order to automatically become happy and prosperous.

The article goes on to consider cultural predispositions for “readiness” for democracy. But what does “democracy” mean exactly? If we define democracy very narrowly in terms of elections, it is certainly not a sufficient criterion for predicting happiness. Notwithstanding the fact that in many countries such as those of the former Soviet bloc elections may be far from free and fair, even legitimately conducted voting in itself is not necessarily a good forecaster for a sustained rise in aggregate happiness.

If social participation is limited only to periodical casting of a ballot, if the government between elections remains unresponsive and has little accountability to the public, if the decision-makers fail to create policies conducive to economic growth – democracy has not succeeded. Electoral democracy has to be translated into responsible, transparent, and participatory democratic governance in order for the population to experience tangible improvements in their lives and feel happier.

In the absence of civil liberties and political rights beyond just voting, democracy cannot flourish. Similarly, the market economy cannot prosper in the absence of economic freedoms that are intertwined with these political rights and liberties. In other words, democracy – and happiness – go beyond just popular representation. Democracy must deliver outputs and policies that respond to real public needs in order to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. And no cultural predispositions exist for that.