Democracy and Development

Bol Partner

This book contains specially commissioned chapters by leading experts on economic development in the Third World. Leftwich examines and assesses the key conditions of economic development and takes a critical look at the role of democracy. This authoritative volume is a major contribution to the discipline. Is democracy a necessary condition for economic development or is it an outcome of it? This is the central question addressed in the chapters specially commissioned for this book. Current Western orthodoxy holds that third-world countries must democratize if they are to develop, and aid has become increasingly conditional on such political reforms. But can democracy survive in the conditions which are found in many developing countries or will it only engender turbulence and instability? The book deals with these questions at the theoretical and empirical levels, focusing first on the theory and then on case studies of the relationship between democracy and development in Botswana, India, South Korea, Chile, South Africa, China and the islands of the South Pacific. Contributors include Geoffrey Hawthorn, John Holm, Sudipta Kaviraj, Yong Cheol Kim, Jan-Erik Lane, Peter Larmour, Tom Lodge, Chung-in Moon, Jenny Pearce, Peter Rutland, Richard Sklar, and Gordon White. Overall, these authors call into question the current orthodoxy about the relationship of democracy and development. In so doing, they have written a text which will be of wide interest to students in development studies, international relations and political theory, as well as to all those engaged in international organizations grappling with the nature and policies of development itself. This book calls into question the current western orthodoxy about the relationship of democracy and development, exploring the theoretical issues involved in the relationship and examining a number of case sudies.

Bol

Is economic development conducive to political democracy? Does democracy foster or hinder material welfare? These two questions are examined by looking at the experience of 135 countries between 1950 and 1990. Descriptive information, statistical analyses, and historical narratives are interwoven to gain an understanding of the dynamic of political regimes and their impact on economic development and other aspects of material welfare. The findings, several most surprising, dispel any notion of a trade-off between democracy and development. Economic development does not generate democracies but democracies are much more likely to survive in wealthy societies. Political regimes have no impact on the growth of total national incomes, while political instability affects growth only in dictatorships. Per capita incomes grow faster in democracies since population increases faster under dictatorships. In general, political regimes have more of an effect on demography than on economics.