What Can Demography Tell Us About the Advent of Democracy?

Democracy is fickle. Many of the competing theories on the best ways to foment and consolidate plural, inclusive governance or predict its rise and fall focus on political and economic forces. Yet a small group of demographers have explored population age structure as a catalyst for and reflection of a host of changes in societies that can affect governance.

Population age structure as a catalyst for and reflection of a host of changes in societies

Last year, London School of Economics and Political Science Professor Tim Dyson, an expert on the demographic transition, food security, and population dynamics in Asia, among other issues, published a new article assessing the relationship between demography and democracy. He joins Jack Goldstone (Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World) and Richard Cincotta (Stimson Center demographer and New Security Beat contributor) among the relatively few political demographers who have delved into the intersection between demography and political regime type.

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