Is Democracy Good for Developing Countries?

In recent years، some intellectuals have stated that democracy is not suitable for developing countries as it decreases their economic growth. They hold that dictatorship states can better plan for the benefit of their nations because they are free from the pressure of voters. This article explains two reasons to reject the mentioned claim. First، the definition of development has undergone changes within recent years to turn democracy itself as one of the indicators of development. Moreover، having studied the relationship between economic growth and democracy within 1970-2009 through the use of the data concerned over 100 countries and panel data model، a positive and significant relationship between economic growth and democracy is revealed. Therefore، democracy could be regarded as the goal and means of development.