Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Happiness Prospers in Democracy

Journal of Happiness Studies volume 1, pages 79–102 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

An econometric analysis of a happiness function, based on a surveyof 6,000 persons in Switzerland, indicates that:

(1) the more developed the institutions of direct democracy, the happier the individuals are;

(2) people derive procedural utility from the possibility of participating in the direct democratic process over and above a more favorable political outcome;

(3) the unemployed are much less happy than the employed, independent of income;

(4) higher income is associated with higher levels of happiness.

The consideration of institutional differences in cross-regional data offers important new insights into happiness research.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

REFERENCES

  • Atkinson, A. B., L. Rainwater and T. Smeeding: 1995, 'Income distribution in OECD countries. Evidence from Luxembourg income study', Social Policy Studies 18, (OECD, Paris).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohnet, I. and B. S. Frey: 1994, 'Direct-democratic rules: The role of discussion', Kyklos 47(3), pp. 341-354.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonner, R. J.: 1967, Aspects of Athenian Democracy 2nd. ed. (Russel and Russel, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, G. and J. M. Buchanan: 1980, The Power to Tax. Analytical Foundations of a Fiscal Constitution (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, J. M. and G. Tullock: 1962, The Calculus of Consent. Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor).

    Google Scholar 

  • Budge, I.: 1996, New Challenge of Direct Democracy (Polity Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, D. and A. Ranney (eds.): 1994, Referendums around theWorld. The Growing Use of Direct Democracy (AEI Press, Washington, D.C).

  • Clark, A. E. and A. J. Oswald: 1994, 'Unhappiness and unemployment', Economic Journal 104(424): pp. 648-659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, T. E.: 1989, Direct Democracy. The Politics of Initiative, Referendum and Recall (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. A.: 1994, 'A Democratic Dilemma: System effectiveness vs. citizen participation', Political Science Quarterly 109: pp. 23-34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Tella, R., R. J. MacCulloch and A. J. Oswald: 1999, The Macroeconomics of Happiness. ZEI Working Paper B99-03, Center for European Integration Studies, Bonn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. and S. Oishi: 2000, 'Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations', in E. Diener and E. M. Suh (eds.), Subjective Well-Being Across Cultures. (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA), forthcoming.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., E. M. Suh, R. E. Lucas and H. L. Smith: 1999, 'Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress', Psychological Bulletin 125(2): pp. 276-303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Downs, A.: 1957, An Economic Theory of Democracy (Harper and Row, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dryzek, J. S.: 1990, Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy and Political Science (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Elster, J. (ed.): 1998, Deliberative Democracy (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).

    Google Scholar 

  • Feld, L. and G. Kirchgässner: 1999, 'Public debt and budgetary procedures: Top down or bottom up? Some evidence from Swiss municipalities', in J. M. Poterba and J. von Hagen (eds.), Fiscal Institutions and Fiscal Performance (Chicago University Press, Chicago) pp. 151-179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feld, L. and M. Savioz: 1998, 'Vox Populi, Vox Bovi? Ökonomische Auswirkungen direkter Demokratie', in G. Grözinger and S. Panther (eds.), Konstitutionelle Politische Ökonomie. Sind unsere gesellschaftlichen Regelsysteme in Form und guter Verfassung? (Metropolis: Marburg) pp. 29-80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feld, L. P. and M. R. Savioz: 1997, 'Direct democracy matters for economic performance: An empirical investigation', Kyklos 50(4): pp. 507-538.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiorina, M. P.: 1981, Retrospective Voting in American National Elections (Yale University Press, New Haven).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, S.: 1981, Towards an Understanding of the Costs of Inflation. II Carniegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Choice 15: pp. 5-41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S.: 1994, 'Direct democracy: Politico-economic lessons from Swiss experience', American Economic Review 84(2): pp. 338-348.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S.: 1997, 'A Constitution for knaves crowds out civic virtues', Economic Journal 107(443): pp. 1043-1053.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S. and F. Schneider: 1978a, 'An empirical study of politico-economic interaction in the United States', Review of Economics and Statistics 60(2): pp. 174-183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S. and F. Schneider: 1978b, 'A political-economic model of the United Kingdom', Economic Journal 88(350): pp. 243-253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerber, E. R.: 1999, The Populist Paradox: Interest Group Influence and the Promise of Direct Legislation (Princeton University Press, Princeton).

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J.: 1992, Faktizität und Geltung: Beiträge zur Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaates (Suhrkamp, Frankfurt).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hibbs, D.: 1981, 'Economics and politics in France: Economic performance and mass political support for Presidents Pompidou and Giscard D'Estaing', European Journal of Political Research 9: pp. 133-145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Inoguchi, T.: 1980, 'Economic conditions and mass political support in Japan', 1960–1976, in P. F. Whiteley (ed.), Models of Political Economy (London).

  • Johnson, J.: 1993, 'Is talk really cheap? Prompting conversation between critical theory rational choice', American Political Science Review 87(1): pp. 74-86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinder, D. R. and D. R. Kiewit: 1979, 'Economic discontent and political behavior: The role of personal grievances and collective judgements in congressional voting', American Journal of Political Science 23(3): pp. 495-527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchgässner, G.: 1985, 'Rationality, causality, and the relation between economic conditions and the popularity of parties. An empirical investigation for the Federal Republic of Germany, 1971–1982', European Economic Review 28(1–2): pp. 243-268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchgässner, G., L. Feld and M. R. Savioz: 1999, Die direkte Demokratie: Modern, erfolgreich, entwicklungs-und exportfähig (Helbing und Lichtenhahn/Vahlen/Beck, Basel).

    Google Scholar 

  • Leu, R. E., S. Burri and T. Priester: 1997, Lebensqualität und Armut in der Schweiz (Haupt, Bern).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E. Jr.: 1981, 'Discussion of: Stanley Fischer, “Towards an Understanding of the Costs of Inflation”'. II Carniegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Choice 15: pp. 43-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsusaka, J. G.: 1995, 'Fiscal effects of the voter initiative: Evidence from the last 30 years', Journal of Political Economy 103(2): pp. 587-623.

    Google Scholar 

  • McEachern, W. A.: 1978, 'Collective decision rules and local debt choice: A test of the median voter hypothesis', National Tax Journal 31(2): pp. 129-136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, D. C.: 1995, Constitutional Economics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nannestad, P. and M. Paldam: 1994, 'The VP-function: A survey of the literature on vote and popularity functions after 25 years', Public Choice 79(3–4): pp. 213-245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oswald, A. J.: 1997, 'Happiness and economic performance', Economic Journal 107(445): pp. 1815-1831.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paldam, M.: 1981, 'A preliminary survey of the theories and findings on vote and popularity functions', European Journal of Political Research 9: pp. 181-199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paldam, M. and F. Schneider: 1980, 'The macro-economic aspects of government and opposition popularity in Denmark, 1957–1978', Nationalokonomisk Tidsskrift 118(2): pp. 149-170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pommerehne, W. W. and H. Weck-Hannemann: 1996, 'Tax rates, tax administration and income tax evasion in Switzerland', Public Choice 88(1–2): pp. 161-170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rueben, K.: 2000, 'Tax limitations and government growth: The effect of state tax and expenditure limits on state and local government', Journal of Political Economy, forthcoming.

  • Santerre, R. E.: 1989, 'Representative versus direct democracy: Are there any expenditure differences?', Public Choice 60(2): pp. 145-154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santerre, R. E.: 1993, 'Representative versus direct democracy: The role of public bureaucrats', Public Choice 76(3): pp. 189-198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, F. and B. S. Frey: 1988, 'Politico-economic models of macroeconomic policy: A review of the empirical evidence', in T. D. Willett (ed.), The Political Economy of Money, Inflation and Unemployment (Duke University Press, Durham and London), pp. 240-275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, F. and W. W. Pommerehne: 1983, 'Macroeconomia della crescita in disequilibrio e settore pubblico in espansione: il peso delle differenze istituzionali', Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali 30(4–5): pp. 306-320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, F., W. W. Pommerehne and B. S. Frey: 1981, 'Politico-economic interdependence in a direct democracy: The case of Switzerland', in D. Hibbs and H. Fassbinder (eds.), Contemporary Political Economy (Amsterdam: North Holland), pp. 231-248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stutzer, A.: 1999, Demokratieindizes für die Kantone der Schweiz, Working Paper No. 23, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich.

  • Swiss Federal Statistical Office (ed.): 1995, Statistisches Jahrbuch der Schweiz (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zürich).

    Google Scholar 

  • Swiss Federal Statistical Office: 1994, Die Raumordnung der Schweiz (Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Bern).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R.: 1990, Why People Obey the Law (Yale, New Haven).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R.: 1997, 'Procedural fairness and compliance with the law', Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics 133(2–2): pp. 219-240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trechsel, A. and U. Serdült: 1999, Kaleidoskop Volksrechte: Die Institutionen der direkten Demokratie in den schweizerischen Kantonen 1970–1996 (Helbing und Lichtenhahn, Basel, Genf, München).

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R.: 1984, Conditions of Happiness (Reidel, Dordrecht/Boston).

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R.: 1993, Happiness in Nations: Subjective Appreciation of Life in 56 Nations 1946–1992 (Erasmus University Press, Rotterdam).

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R.: 1997, 'Progres dans la comprehension du bonheur', Revue Quebecoise de Psychologie 18: pp. 29-74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R.: 2000, 'Freedom and happiness. A comparative study in 44 nations in the early 1990's', in E. Diener and E. M. Suh (eds.), Subjective Well-Being Across Cultures (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA) forthcoming.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkelmann, L. and R. Winkelmann: 1998, 'Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data', Economica 65(257): pp. 1-15.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Empirical economic Research, University of Zurich, Blümlisalpstrasse 10, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland

    Bruno S. Frey

Authors
  1. Bruno S. Frey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alois Stutzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Frey, B.S., Stutzer, A. Happiness Prospers in Democracy. Journal of Happiness Studies 1, 79–102 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010028211269

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010028211269

search

Navigation