Conditions for successful public policies of sustainable development: institutional capacity, democracy, and free trade

Although several studies have identified factors for successful sustainable development policies, little effort has been made to comprehensively analyze the relationship between those variables and to generalize the findings at a global level. This study, therefore, attempts to explore conditions for successful sustainable development policies using cross-national-level analysis. Through the literature review, this study identifies arguments that institutional capacity, democracy and free trade are critical conditions for successful sustainable development policies. This study tests these arguments using cross-national time-series analyses for 118-119 countries during 2000-2010. The findings suggest that the democratic aspect of political systems and government administration and the vitality of trade, rather than free trade, are critical conditions for successful sustainable development policies.