The second and third thought-provoking sessions of The Democracy and Development Round Table focused on the democratization of national ownership of development and the impact of globalization on democracy and development. The second panel featured distinguished speakers such as Ms Aruna Roy, a social activist from Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana, India, Mr Francois-Xavier de Donnea from the Belgian Parliament and Mr WM Brandful, Head of Department of Policy Planning, Research and Monitoring at the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD. The panel was moderated by Mr Javeed Alam from the Indian Council of Social Science Research.
Mr Brandful opened the panel by comparing his home country Ghana to Malaysia. He said that with democracy also came development and growth, and poverty had been reduced from 52 (1992) to 35 (2003) per cent. In addition, Ghana is predicted to surpass the Millennium Development Goals. At the end of his speech, he stressed that the continent cannot develop without democracy, and that democracy cannot be sustained without development.
Mr de Donnea emphasized that one of the most efficient ways in which democratic rule can be improved is through the strengthening of the parliament. He said this can be done by increasing parliamentary oversight, providing delegates with sufficient information, consulting civil society, and enabling opposition to play its role.
Ms Roy, in her concluding speech asserted that one way in which democracy can be improved is by listening to the people. If government officials would listen, they would find out that people care about securing minimum wages, employment, and education. She said another way in which democracy can be strengthened is by ensuring transparency. Ms Roy’s final words reminded the conference participants of the essence of democracy – it is a transfer of power from the people to the government that entitles people with the right to have a voice that should not be ignored.
On the second day the third panel addressed the impact of globalization on democracy. Professor Saskia Sassen of Columbia University and London School of Economics and Political Science began with the assertion that the world today “is not flat. It is lumpy.” She was alluding Thomas Freidmans’s metaphor to convey that globalization has not created a perfectly level playing field in terms of commerce and competition.
Nivedita Menon of the University of Delhi gave her views that politics today is a disaggregated process in which development is given number one priority, environment second, and everyday people at last.
Mr Jorge Heine spoke of democracy in Latin America. He described the leftist regimes that have recently come to power in the region as proof of resurgence in democratic vigor. While only a few democratic governments existed in the region during the 1970’s, Latin American is now entirely democratic.
In a nutshell, the Round Table painted a mixed picture of democracy and development. Globalization can have both positive and negative effects on the level of economic and social equality between citizens within a state. As Vidar Helgesen stated, globalization brought more power to subordinated institutions and improved the ability of citizens to act on the international avenue. In general, development can be understood as a political process that is related to democratic principles and cooperation amongst people.
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