Democracy and development

Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 25 (1) states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”. This implies that development is not just about increasing economic growth or technological modernisation but it is about the fulfillment of political, social and economic needs in order to achieve a proper, decent standard of living.

Others even suggest that development is about expanding people’s choice so that it enables them to lead the lives they value. It is not just the economic growth, but rather it is about expanding peoples’ choice (UNDP 2009). Therefore, this can be argued that development is achieved when people are given an opportunity to exercise their rights and freedoms. This seems to suggest that there is strong relationship between democracy and development and in fact they are the key to reducing poverty.

There are two possible reasons why democracy and development are the key to fighting poverty. First, democracy strengthens state institutions such as justice system and law enforcement and respects the rights of individuals to directly participate in the process of development (Millennium Challenge Corporation 2007). Political scientists argue that though high income will not necessarily generate democracy, in fact, the transformation to democracy accelerates economic development, and the increase of economic development will in turn strengthen democratic state institution (Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-Being in the World by Przeworski et al 2000; and Introduction to global politics by Mansbach & Rafferty 2008). Direct participation of people in development means people are not the object of development rather the actor.

Democratic government implies that they are accountable to their people while pursuing the development goals. These goals are envisaged by the Millennium Development Goals set for 2015 which include - reduce poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, improve maternal health, combat diseases such as HIV-Aids and malaria, access to safe drinking water and increase global trade (United Nations 2009). In contrast, development will be an illusion if the above mentioned goals are not met and their fundamental rights are constantly denied.

Development cannot be achieved while, for example, the rights of Aborigines are denied; the high rise buildings are still surrounded by large slums such as in Mumbai; workers are forced to work long working hours in factories with little consideration for their health and security such as Nike workers in Indonesia and mining workers in China; or where the local environment is constantly degraded by multinational companies.

Second, democracy and development in essence produces: a) solid democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people; b) sound economic growth policies; c) enhanced human capital; d) and improved infrastructure and all of these are preconditions to economic growth and reduce poverty (MCC 2007). Over the last few years, international development institutions such as the World Bank and IMF admit that many developing countries continue to suffer endemic poverty due to the absence of capital investment, crippling debts, disease and ill health, political instability, lack of education, ecological environment and inappropriate technology.

These problems can only be addressed if the poor are assisted to climb “the ladder of economic development” and to take the lead in the development process (The end of poverty: how we can make it happen in our lifetime by J.Sachs 2005). Thus, the provision of enough resources and skills to local and disadvantage groups will encourage active participation and directly contribute to development process.

This approach has been widely reflected in the work of many international development agencies such as the UN and the World Bank. For instance, for developing countries to be qualified for MCC funding to reduce poverty, they must meet strict criteria such as upholding the political rights, civil liberties, and accountability. This has been rigorously monitored by MCC in order to unsure recipient countries fully implement the above principles (MCC 2009). MMC further suggest countries that are qualified for MMC funding are required to set priorities to enhance economic freedom, invest in their citizens, encourage wider public participation, improve accountability, and combat corruption.

This means that while the government is taking the lead in implementing the development program, strong partnership with civil society, the donor countries, private sectors, and other development stakeholders is an important element which assists government in fighting poverty effectively. This can be argued that democratic institutions and economic development are interrelated where both tend to complement each other in the fight of poverty. Poverty cannot be overcome by countries under the control of despotic regimes.

In brief, it can be argued that there is strong relationship between democracy and development. While development is about expanding individual freedoms through enhancement of people’s choice to directly engage in development process, democracy will further strengthen state institutions in order to provide protection to individual rights and encourage greater participation in the development process.

Individual freedoms must be vital to any democratic government and should not be exchanged just for pure economic growth. Instead, economic advancement should be seen as a means to advance individual freedoms. Enhancing individual freedoms has been the key to eradication poverty.

Though some suggest that there is no relationship between development and democracy, this concept has been countered by many political scientists. This is because without democracy individual freedoms will be undermined as governments are less accountable and transparent to their citizens. This seems to suggest that democracy and development are two key concepts that are interconnected and can be used as affective tools to address poverty.