Democracy and development

Is democracy inherently a good thing? And do democratic institutions facilitate economic development? It appears reasonable to answer the first question affirmatively: democracy is a good thing because it facilitates free human choice and it furthers the good of political participation. But the answer to the latter question is an empirical one, and there is debate within the development field about the effects of electoral democracy on the development process. Some argue, for example, that the experiences of Korea, Taiwan, or Indonesia show that a strong authoritarian state is better able to engineer a successful process of economic development than an electoral democracy such as India (because of its ability to discipline fractious demand groups). This chapter will consider both the normative and the empirical side of these questions. It will argue, first, that democracy is inherently desirable; second, that the empirical record of authoritarian developing states is about as mixed as that of democratic states; and finally, that only democratic institutions give any promise of tilting economic development policies toward the interests of the poor.