"2023-10-03"

Last updated Oct 10, 2023

#politics

• Democracy should not just focus on the political aspect…
  • To really serve its function and fulfill its role, ==all aspects of our lives should experience democracy== (i.e. economic and social)
  • Political democracy, economic democracy, social democracy
• Why is there a friction between economic development and political democracy?
  • Poor people do not care about democracy if they do not have anything that they can put on their table

• Adrian Leftwich (2005) contextualizes this question in a post-Cold War political field where ==questions about poverty and inequality and its connection with political instability and democratization== were now at the forefront of global concerns
• ==Weak governance==, ==the absence of consensus==, ==rent-seeking behavior==, and ==the sharp political cleavages between regional, ethnic, religious, or class groups== in states that had experienced rapid democratization after the fall of the Soviet Union emphasized the normative claim of democracy, as opposed to other systems of government as the best form of government
• ==International norms== were also being built during the post-Cold War era that maintained the ==promotion of freedom, self-determination, moral autonomy, and human rights ==(elements are integral to democratization), as an essential good
• Hence the need to study the interaction between democratic politics and economic development

• Leftwich adopts the definition of development by Joseph Stiglitz, ==development is essentially a “transformation of society”==
• Every facet of that society: social, economic, political, and legal, will change as a result of the "==application of technical and ‘scientific" ways of thinking across a wide swathe of institutions== in order to increase productivity with a view to enhancing human welfare and potential by the reduction of infant mortality, the extension of life expectancy, and the improvement of education and healthcare’"
• “Development is the expansion of freedom and choice in the political and social spheres”
• In short…
  • The key to understanding development, according to Leftwich, is to understand it as a process that ==involves radical and rapid change in all spheres of a society==
  • This is different from mere economic growth is economic growth can happen even if it is not distributed to all members of society (e.g. the rich get richer)
  • Development, however, must positively affect all members of society
• Development thus entails changes in both economic and political institutions. What makes this difficult is that some of the changes, for Leftwich, are ==inevitably “non-consensual”==
• This happens in societies where “a new developmentally committed regime comes to power facing a legacy of immense inequality in wealth and opportunity which requires urgent attention”.
• For example, “==institutional arrangements to encourage and manage the process ==(in relation to savings, taxation, and especially investment), are institutions that need to be examined and reformed if development is to occur.”
• Changes such as these are made with a rapidity and thoroughness that might upset the balance of power in localities and spaces with deeply-entrenched groups and interests
  • Reforms on these key areas of the economic structure of a society must be far-reaching. In exchange, the successful development of the economic institutions of a society may lead to the transformation of a more egalitarian distribution of wealth and power
• Development programs need to be i==mplemented continuously== to be successful
  • In a democratic country, it needs to be ensured that despite the changing of the leadership/administration, these development programs will be continuously implemented to ensure its maximum effect and maximum benefit

• Therein lies the “friction” between democracy and development. Informal democratic institutions, for example, are fundamentally ==mechanisms filled with uncertainty==
• Elections mean that across a short period of time (let’s say 3 years to 6 years), the prospect that the entire personal setup of your political system will change whether the old players like it or not is directly inimical to developmental desires for stability
• ==Stability is important in modelling economic development==, for example, as economic policies and actions can be planned out in advance
  • Political currents, however, given the nature of politics and democracy, does not allow for such planning
  • This is why, for example, that even as PH presidents change, ==their economic policies do not really change over time.== It is an attempt by our leaders to mitigate the “disruptive” uncertain character of our political system in order to encourage economic growth
• “While development requires institutions that promote more or less radical accumulation, change, or transformation, the institutions which are required to sustain and consolidate democracy are characteristically the ones that promote the politics of accommodation, compromise, and the centre. The political logic of democracy is generally, therefore, necessarily consensual, conservative, and incremental in the change that it brings about” (Leftwich 2005, 699)

• “What should come first – removing poverty and misery, or guaranteeing politcal liberty and civil rights, for which poor people have little use anyway?” (Sen, 1999)
• Sen believed that the way the question is presented is misleading. It is presented in such a way where one can be achieved without the other. Or in other words, that ==democracy is an impediment to economic development.==
• He however believes that the real issue is the “interconnections between political freedoms and the understanding and fulfillment of economic needs”
• In particular, he notes that democracy has an instrumental and constructive aspect for economic development.
• To wit, he says that democratic institutions are “not only instrumental (political freedoms can have a major role in providing incentives and information in the solution of acute economic needs), but also constructive. Our conceptualization of economic needs ==depends crucially on open public debates and discussions==, the guaranteeing which requires insistence on basic political liberty and civil rights.”
• He then argues that there are three major considerations in arguing that ==democracy “adds to – rather than subtracts from – the urgency of political freedoms”.== These three considerations are, to quote Sen:
  • Their direct importance in human living associated with basic capabilities (including that of political and social participation);
  • Their instrumental role in enhancing the hearing that people get in expressing and supporting their claims to political attention (including the claims of economic needs);
  • Their constructive role in the conceptualization of “needs” (including the understanding of “economic needs” in a social context)

1. First Claim: Cards/The Lee Thesis. Named after the late Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore. This is the popular belief that ==freedoms and rights hamper economic growth and development.==
2. Second Claim: Quoting Sen: “it has been argued that if poor people are given the choice between having political freedoms and fulfilling economic needs, ==they will invariably choose the latter.== Since people have reason to want to eliminate, first and foremost, economic deprivation and misery, they have reason enough for not insisting on political freedoms, which would get in the way of their real priorities.”
3. Third Claim: It has often been argued that the emphasis on political freedom, liberties, and democracy is a specifically “Western” priority, which goes, in particular, against “Asian values”, which are supposed to be more keen on order and discipline then on liberty and freedom

1. Counterclaim: For Sen, there is actually very little evidence that The Lee Thesis is true. In fact, studies even note that the effect of democratization on economic development is minor, if it exists at all. There are studies that do indicate a strong relation between greater democratization and greater economic development. To quote Sen: ==“Systemic empirical studies give no real support to the claim that there is a general conflict between political freedoms and economic performance."==
2. Sen then surmises that ==there can be general policies that deepen democratization as well as encourage economic growth and development. ==These include: “openness to competition, the use of international markets, a high level of literacy and school education, successful land reforms and pubic provision of incentives for investment, exporting, and industrialization.”
3. Counterclaim: Quite simply, Sen explains that given the first claim (The Lee Thesis) does not have any empirical support, so does this argument, given that this second claim is “parasitic upon the first thesis”.
4. Sen’s Counterclaim: Civil and political rights enable peoples to demand that their governments respond to their needs as citizens. As such, for Sen, ==“the exercise of political rights (voting, criticizing, protesting, etc.) can make a real difference”==

Sen also emphasizes the instrumental and preeminent role of political freedoms in addressing economic needs. This is through:

• Their direct importance in human living associated with basic capabilities (including that of political and social participation);

• Their instrumental role in enhancing the hearing that people get in expressing and supporting their claims to political attention (including the claims of economic needs);

• Their constructive role in the conceptualization of ’needs’ (including the understanding of ’economic needs’ in a social context)

• As such, there should be ==no divergence between democracy and development==, since they can mutually constitute, and enable each other.

• Democracy ==creates sets of opportunities that empower people== to demand for development and to participate in social processes, including the process of development itself.

“Democracy does not serve as an automatic remedy of ailments as quinine works to remedy malaria. The opportunity it opens up has to be positively grabbed in order to achieve the desired effect. This is, of course, a basic feature of freedoms in general – much depends on how freedoms are actually exercised.” (Sen, 1999)