Dorn, DavidDavidDornFischer, Justina A. V.Justina A. V.FischerKirchgässner, GebhardGebhardKirchgässnerAlfonso, Sousa-PozaSousa-PozaAlfonso2023-04-132023-04-132005-06-01https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/84708We look at the relation between democracy and perceived subjective well-being, taking also into account the impact of income and culture. After briefly reviewing the empirical results for Switzerland, we re-estimate this relationship allowing for the relative income position of individuals and also using a new more recent data from the Swiss Household Panel. No robust relationship between the extent of (direct) democracy and happiness can be observed. In a second step, we conduct a crossnational analysis, covering 28 countries with data from the 1998 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). There we observe a robust positive and significant relationship between democracy and happiness.enCultureDemocracyDirect DemocracyHappinessInstitutionsUtilitydiscussion paper