Is Democracy Necessary for Good Governance?

Objective Is democracy necessary for good governance? Although it is often assumed that there is a natural connection between democracy and governance, there is remarkably little empirical work that tests this relationship cross‐nationally. Methods In this article, I first focus on distinguishing aspects of good governance and separate them conceptually from democracy. Second, I outline several different types of regime models that represent models for emulation among developing countries. Third, using data from 115 countries from 1996 to 2011, I quantitatively analyze which of these is more effective in producing good governance (which in part explains the appeal of some models over others). Results The results suggest that there are (1) either no differences between one‐party regimes and democracies in terms of the promotion of rule of law or effective governance in the developing world; and (2) some types of semi‐authoritarian one‐party regimes are better at promoting rule of law and effective governance than other types of authoritarian regimes—equally as well as democracies. Conclusion Contrary to much of the literature, democracy does not appear to be necessary for good “enough” governance. However, in the long run, for good governance and the “rule of law” to firmly take root (where regime elites are held accountable by law), democratic institutions must be ultimately developed.