Morton J. Halperin, Joseph T. Siegle,
and Michael M. Weinsteinn

The Democracy Advantage:
How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace

For decades, policies pursued by the U.S. and other industrialized nations towards the developing world have been based on a dirty little secret kept among policy experts: democracy and development don't mix. Turning this long- held view on its head, The Democracy Advantage makes a compelling case that they do. Uncovering 40 years of hard, empirical data, from China and India to Chile and Iraq, The Democracy Advantage shows that poor democracies surpass poor autocracies in every economic measure. In addition, the book offers dramatic evidence that democracies are less likely to fight each other and that terrorists more often find safe havens in authoritarian countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.  The highly credible authors also argue that poverty is an element that is unconnected to terrorism. With an introduction by George Soros, founder of the Open Society Institute, this revolutionary and thought-provoking new book is supported by the most erudite and influential policy makers of our time.

"They're hardly neocons...yet they make...a powerful case for democracy promotion.... Siegle, Weinstein and Halperin puncture the myth that democracy works only in rich nations.”
--Max Boot of the Lost Angeles Times

"This valuable and timely volume obliterates the myth--beloved of dictators--that democracy is somehow the enemy of development rather than an essential ally. Here is a treasury of evidence that freedom is not only right--it works."
--Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State

"A well-crafted book, supported by historical evidence, of how democracy advances development--with practical prescriptions for what the American government and other governments and international development organizations
can do to build on this synergy."
--George Soros, Open Society.

Morton H. Halperin is one of America's most respected foreign policy analysts having served in the Nixon, Johnson, and Clinton administrations, most recently as Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State (1998-2001). He is currently a Senior Vice President of the Center for American Progress and is the Director of the Open Society Policy Center.

Joseph T. Siegle is an Associate Director at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector (IRIS) at the University of Maryland. He has worked on a wide assortment of development programs in numerous countries. Research for this book was conducted while he was the Douglas Dillon Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Michael M. Weinstein is Director of Programs for the Robin Hood Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a former chairman of the Department of Economics at Haverford College. He is a former economics columnist for the New York Times where he also served on the editorial board..



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