Political stability and development have a symbiotic relationship – or do they? At a time when democracy is appearing to be the most stable form of governance in the world, many questions are being raised on the relevance, credibility and sustainability of democracy.
Policymakers, academics, researchers, social activists and experts across the globe came together to discuss the issue in The Democracy and Development Round Table organised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) on 17-18 June in New Dehli, India.
During the conference’s opening, International IDEA’s Secretary General Vidar Helgesen stressed that democracy-building is by no means an area allowing for the drawing of divides between “donors” and “receivers”: “No country can ‘donate’ democracy and no country can receive it from abroad. The idea that the West (or the North) should coach the South into democracy is one of those harmful colonial paradigms to be un-learned - the sooner the better” he said.
Director of CSDS Rajeev Bhargava stated that development is doomed to fail if development policies are implemented from top to bottom, or imported from abroad. He highlighted the need to involve citizens in deciding the meaning of development, development needs and priorities, as well as in the implementation of development programmes.
Minister of State of Commerce and Industry and Power, Jairam Ramesh then spoke about what he called “the three Rs” -- Representation, Responsiveness and Responsibility asserting that while representation and responsiveness were a given in India, responsibility was sometimes too weak.
The first discussion, focusing on the links between democracy and development, established that democracy is preferred almost universally over any other kind of government by a slight majority. However, recent years have seen erosion in this support for democracy as governments have failed to deliver on socioeconomic rights. As Professor Pranab Bardhan from University of California, Berkeley stated, there is not a casual relationship between development and democracy. Indeed, democratic decision-making is often a slow process that often makes short-term development difficult. Maria Amparo Casar of Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicos, Mexico agreed that in Mexico strengthening the executive branch while simultaneously increasing accountability is a challenge that must be addressed.
Stanford University Professor Larry Diamond, suggested that the conversation should focus on the quality of democracies and most panellists cited corruption and lack of accountability as major issues worldwide. He also pointed out that although there are distinctions, many of the concerns that democratic governments face, affect both the developing and the developed nations. Professor Gloria Somolekae from WK Kellogg Foundation pointed out that the major reason for lack of development of many democracies is a lack of resources and not political conditions.
