Democracy, accountability, and forest loss: a cross-national analysis of low- and middle-income nations

The existing cross-national research on democracy and forest loss has produced contradictory results. On the one hand, some studies find that democracy is related to less forest loss because of electoral accountability and guaranteeing political rights and civil liberties. On the other hand, studies find that democracy is related to increased forest loss in low- and middle-income nations because leaders promote policies that prioritize economic growth over protecting the natural environment. We use this research as a starting point for our study and build upon it in two ways. First, we examine how vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accountability–three different aspects of democracy–impacts forest loss in low- and middle-income nations. Second, we address the issue of endogeneity in the vertical, horizontal, and diagonal accountability. To do so, we analyze data for 80 low- and middle-income nations using a two-stage instrumental variable regression model. We find that higher levels of horizontal and diagonal accountability are related to less forest loss. We do not find that vertical accountability is related to forest loss in low- and middle-income nations. From the findings, we arrive at our theoretical implication, which support arguments concerning how actors at different scales work individually and together to promote conservation.