Unpacking democracy and governance: Conceptualizing governance infrastructure

Abstract

This article argues that it is necessary to unpack and appropriately separate the concepts of democracy and governance. The impetus for this research comes from the ongoing and expanding convolution of the concepts of democracy and governance by academics, international institutions and policymakers. One of the more important areas of research that is affected by this convolution argues that democracies guarantee the rule of law and provide superior institutions which considerably influence not only developing states’ overall development trajectories, but also multinational firms’ decisions on where to do business. I argue that these superior institutions, such as the rule of law and quality bureaucracy, are separate from the institutions of democracy and constitute the concept of governance infrastructure. Moreover, it is the institutions that comprise governance infrastructure and not the institutions of democracy that are key institutional determinants of developing states’ economic outcomes. Therefore, only by appropriately conceptualizing governance infrastructure, as is done in this article, and separating it theoretically and empirically from democracy will scholars and policymakers move forward in understanding the determinants of economic development.