Democracy and Development

Are They Compatible?Adam, Debbie, Jane, Michelle

Introduction

• Collectively we have come to the consensus that there is no definitive answer to this question. Democracy and development are both contested terms and a dichotomy; the two concepts in and of themselves are separate i.e. countries can develop or not, regardless of implementing democracy or authoritarian regime. We will endeavour to demonstrate this throughout the presentation with case studies and discussion.

Democracy : a Concept

• Ideal vs Reality

• Is there Democracy in the world today?

• Characteristics of Democracy• Free and fair elections

• Political and civil participation of citizens

• Protection of human rights

• A rule of law equal to all citizens

Democracy : Three Basic Forms

• Direct• Right to participate in political decisions by all citizens, under

majority rule procedure.

• Representative• Right to participate in political decisions by all citizens, through

elected representatives.

• Authoritarian• A ruling elite to represent societies interests with no distinct state

ideology. Some freedom is evident as long as rule is not jeopardized.

Development

• A series of societal and economic transformational measures in order to achieve ‘good change’.

• Economic vs. Social. What do we class as a good change?

• Induces growth, cultivates a more desirable economic, social and political condition.

• Fukuyama and Friedman’s argument. Embracing Liberal Capitalism.

Compatibility: 1st Perspective

• Democratization encourages development. Case Study : Argentina• Democracy and development, especially economic development have reciprocal effects on

each other.

• The free flow of information increases efficiency in market and allows it to perform better.

• An accountable and transparent system checks corruption.

• Social democracy which encourages distribution of wealth may also lead to reforms that transfer resources from the privileged part of the society.

• Democracy can also increase the welfare of the people.

• Human development is a key component of development as a whole. Features of democracy encourages this.

Argentina(Democratization encourages development)

• Age Structure

• Death Rate ; 7.34 per 1,000

• Life expectancy ; Male – 74.28 years , Female – 80.91 years

• 97.2 % of the population have access to adequate sanitation

• 98.7% of the population have access to good drinking water

Argentina(Democratization encourages development)

• Rich natural resources

• Highly literate population

• Export orientated agriculture sector

• Argentina’s journey to democracy

Compatibility: 2nd Perspective

• Democratization impedes development. Case Study : India• Democracy causes indiscipline and disorder; Development needs

discipline over democracy.

• “if eliminating the continuing offence of poverty and misery is the real target, then unlimited liberal democracy and unrestrained economic liberty may be the last thing the developing world needs” (Leftwich 1993)

• Conservative direct democracy vs Radical development

India(Democratization impedes development)

• A democracy with the largest number of people living under the poverty line in the world at the end of the 20th century

• Democracy enabled the poor to vote, however periodic elections were not a strong enough instrument to affect the power of the elites.  

• India is ‘free’, but democracy has become a cover for what is not achieved, effectively blocking change and an excuse for ineffective government.

• Elected representatives acting as self-interested elite

• Democratic elections have superseded their essential aspects

• Can the economic reforms that are placing India as a global power be really credited to democracy, and is there development in all senses when the system impedes the welfare of its people.

Compatibility: 3rd Perspective

• Authoritarian regime encourages better development than direct democracy. Case Study : Rwanda• Democratic political participation must be limited and controlled, even

temporarily, in order to promote economic development

• More democratic a government is, greater the diversion of resources from investment to consumption

• Dedicated developmental elite

• Relative autonomy of state apparatus

• Capacity to manage effectively local and foreign investments

• Trade off between repression and successful delivery of improved material circumstances

Rwanda(Authoritarian regime encourages better development than liberal democracy)

• Rwandans living longer and wealthier

• Better off economically than 20 years ago

• Nearly 620,000 tourists visited Rwanda in 2010, according to World Bank figures – demonstrating a sixfold increase

• Major retail chains have also set up in the Kigali, along with many commercial banks.

• Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and the World Bank have praised Rwanda.

• CEO- like President Paul Kagame, Vision 20/20

• Homegrown policies have been critical to Rwanda's development

• Gacaca: a system of community-based tribunals delivering justice to tens of thousands of genocide suspects

• Imihigo: strict performance-based contracts that check accountability amongst public office holders.

• Improved food security and a million people removed from poverty between 2006 and 2011.

• Corporate consultants have described Rwanda’s improvements as the ultimate turnaround.

Rwanda(Authoritarian regime encourages better development than liberal

democracy)

• Population

• 11.5 million people. Life expectancy has risen from fewer than 48 years in 2000 to more than 62 in 2011.

• Economy

• Impressive GDP growth – approximately 8% .

• GDP per capita from $575 in 1995 to almost $1,170 in 2012.

• Foreign Aid

• ‘Donor Darling’.

• 20% of gross national income

• Health and Education

• Child and infant mortality fallen

• 24% of total government expenditure went to health and 17% to education in 2011

• Women and Girls

• Fewer than 22% of MPs worldwide are women; in Rwanda, almost 64% are

Compatibility: 4th Perspective

• Democratization is unrelated to development. Case Study : Bermuda• Helliwell data. Przeworski and Limongi data. suggest no

relationship between two.

• Economic miracles and disasters happen in democracies and dictatorships

• Globalisation as a factor

Bermuda(Democratization is unrelated to development)

• Globalisation as a factor of development.

• Life Expectancy – 81.4 Years

• G.D.P per Capita – $81,600 which is 4th in the World.

Conclusion

• This is a crash course on a topic that is far reaching and extremely debated. We have tried to introduce the issues with democracy and development separately and together. We have found there are many case studies we could have used as each and every country is unique when it comes to its system and its subsequent development.

• It is difficult to say unequivocally whether democracy and development are compatible or not, as their factors change in measurement. Different types of democracy are evident. Good, bad and ugly governance occurs. Direct democracy is hard to truly achieve, and countries across the world vary in their economic, political and social condition. As stated by Dahl, Democracy is not a prescription, a ‘one size fits all model’ of democratization for development can never be applied.

• Essentially it is entirely possible for a country to become developed under many systems and regimes, and similarly many systems and regimes can destroy a country.

• So whether democracy and development are compatible or not proves problematic, as they have shown to be unrelated in many cases.