The Effects of Growth of Democracy and Transition to Market-Based Economies on Women's Well-Being

This paper assesses the effects of the growth of democracy on various measures of well-being in transition economies throughout the world and in post-communist countries over the past three decades. The results suggest that the effects of democratization on quality of life differ across gender. Specifically, while democracy has positive effects overall, the quality of life for women declines on several key measures, especially in the area of economic opportunities. The results also demonstrate vast differences in the effects of democratization between the world in general and the post-communist region. The study suggests that comprehensive investigation of democratization requires regional and gender-specific analyses. These differing effects of democracy need to be considered as policies develop in transitional democracies.