Foreign aid and democracy: A quantitative analysis of the determinants of development assistance

This thesis poses the following question: do the advanced liberal democracies of the world prioritize democracy in their bilateral foreign aid policy decisions? This question is theoretically and practically important because foreign aid may be seen as a microcosm of foreign policy. Given post-Cold War rhetoric from the advanced liberal democracies concerning the spread of democracy and respect for human rights, this analysis is especially pertinent. The study of foreign aid may therefore shed light upon the dominant paradigm governing the behavior of states. In order to study this phenomenon, a time-series cross-section (TSCS) dataset was constructed containing indices of democracy and foreign aid. Regression analysis revealed striking results. Members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) do give significantly greater amounts of bilateral development assistance to states as they democratize, once human rights, per capita gross domestic product, interstate war, prior aid commitment, and population are accounted for.