Published in PNAS, this large cross-national statistical study shows economic inequality is one of the strongest predictors of where and when democracy erodes—even wealthy and longstanding democracies ...

This “competitive” theory of democracy (and other economic models of politics) greatly influenced twentieth-century liberalism and still informs today’s commonsense view of democracy.

Democracy is often presented as the great political ideal—the fairest system of governance, where people choose their leaders ...