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Democracy and Other Governmental Systems

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The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values and Sociality

Abstract

The countries of the world vary in their position along the autocracy–democracy continuum of governance. We hypothesize that the variation in values pertaining to the autocracy–democracy dimension arises fundamentally out of human species-typical psychological adaptation that manifests contingently, producing values and associated behaviors that functioned adaptively in human evolutionary history to cope with local levels of infectious diseases. We test this parasite-stress hypothesis of democratization using data measuring democratization, collectivism–individualism, gender egalitarianism, property rights, sexual restrictiveness, and parasite adversity across many countries of the world. We show that, as the hypothesis predicts, collectivism (hence, conservatism), autocracy, women’s subordination relative to men’s status, and women’s sexual restrictiveness are features that positively covary, and correspond with high prevalence of infectious disease. The psychology of xenophobia, ethnocentrism, traditionalism, and authoritarianism links these features to avoidance and management of parasites. Also as predicted, we show that the antipoles of each of the above features—individualism (hence, liberalism), democracy, anti-authoritarianism, and women’s rights, freedom and increased participation in casual sex—are a positively covarying set of features in countries with relatively low parasite stress. We discuss evidence that the generation and diffusion of innovations (in thought, action, and technology), which is an important component of democratization, is causally related to low parasite stress and its evoked values, particularly liberalism and associated openness. Other evidence supporting the parasite-stress hypothesis of democratization is discussed: the geographical location of the earliest democratic governments, patterns of censorship and transparency in the media across nations, patterns of autocracy across indigenous societies, and physical-attractiveness prejudices of voters across US congressional districts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Randy Thornhill

  2. Department of Psychology, The University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Corey L. Fincher

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  1. Randy Thornhill
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Thornhill, R., Fincher, C.L. (2014). Democracy and Other Governmental Systems. In: The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values and Sociality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08040-6_10

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