Democracy and economic growth and development have had a strong correlative and interactive relationship throughout history. Effects of democracy on economic growth and effect of economic growth on democracy can be distinguished. While evidence of a relationship is irrefutable,[1] economists' and historians' opinions of its exact nature have been sharply split, hence the latter has been the subject of many debates and studies.[citation needed]
^Rivera-Batiz, Francisco L. (2002). "Democracy, Governance, and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence". Review of Development Economics. 6 (2): 225–247. doi:10.1111/1467-9361.00151. ISSN1363-6669.