IMPROVING DEMOCRACIES, IMPROVING ECONOMIES: LESSONS FROM THE CORPORATE WORLD

Economic growth, free markets, education, and democracy seem to go hand in hand. Nevertheless, democracy by itself is neither the magic potion that lifts countries out of poverty, nor guarantees economic growth. In democracy, people choose their leaders. However, some political decisions may benefit small powerful groups while hurting the rest. One reason is because people might elect incompetent or toxic political leaders, influenced by their charm, charisma or self-confidence, instead of choosing them for their competency and integrity. That results in a higher number of them in leadership positions, with dreadful consequences for the people they lead. The purpose of this paperis to propose pathways to improve democracies and their economies by using a descriptive-analytical method. This could be accomplished by establishing controls to prevent incompetent or toxic political candidates from being elected. In fact, whenvetting politicians for their qualifications and integrity,the number of women in key political positions wouldincrease as well.