Power Corrupts

Foreign Policy takes a look at the effects of temporary membership in the UN Security council

Relative to other countries, temporary members of the Security Council see economic growth drop 3.5 percent and score 2 percent lower on the widely used Polity ranking, which measures levels of democracy. They also see press restrictions increase 3.1 points on Freedom House's 100-point scale.

Is the Security Council itself an enemy of democratic capitalism? No, says de Mesquita. "It's that a vote on the council is a very valuable commodity that can be bought." Temporary membership, like newfound oil riches, gives governments a revenue stream they didn't earn and encourages bad habits.