Paper Info
Title
Democracy, Complexity, and Science: Exploring Structural Sources of National Scientific Performance
Abstract
Scholars have long hypothesized that democratic forms of government are more compatible with scientific advancement. However, empirical analysis testing the democracy-science compatibility hypothesis remains underdeveloped. This article explores the effect of democratic governance on scientific performance using panel data on 124 countries between 2007-2017. We find evidence supporting the democracy-science hypothesis. Further, using both internal and external measures of complexity, we estimate the effects of complexity as a moderating factor between the democracy-science connection. The results show differential main effects of economic complexity, globalization, and international collaboration on scientific performance, as well as significant interaction effects that moderate the effect of democracy on scientific performance. The findings show the significance of democratic governance and complex systems in national scientific performance.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1093/scipol/scab036
SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY
Keywords
DocType
Volume
democracy, economic complexity, globalization, international collaboration, bibliometrics, FWCI
Conference
48
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
5
0302-3427
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Travis A. Whetsell100.34
Koen Jonkers200.34
Ana-Maria Dimand300.34
Jeroen Baas400.34
Caroline S. Wagner540926.07