Question

is democracy a hindrance to development

Answer 1

On the general issue of democracy and development, while many liberals believe in a positive relation between the two, increasingly with the phenomenal success of China, there are some who believe in what is now sometimes called the 'Beijing Consensus': that at early stages of industrialization, authoritarianism is helpful. Even in India we hanker after 56-inch-chested strong leaders. But a moment's reflection tells you that authoritarianism is neither necessary nor sufficient for development. It is not necessary because we know there are countries which have developed reasonably well without authoritarianism. Forget about the rich Western countries or Japan. Take some developing countries that have done well with democracy for a long time. They did not need authoritarianism. If you start with small countries, Costa Rica in Latin America is a major success story of democratic development for a long period. Similarly, in Africa, the country of Botswana gives us a successful story of democracy and development. Among large countries, India is an example of democracy with sustained economic growth in recent decades. That authoritarianism is not sufficient is obvious from cases of stagnant authoritarian countries in Africa and Latin America. There are also examples of countries where democracy exists but where there has been not much progress in development. Thus democracy is also neither necessary nor sufficient for development.

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Answer 2

On the general issue of democracy and development, while many liberals believe in a positive relation between the two, increasingly with the phenomenal success of China, there are some who believe in what is now sometimes called the 'Beijing Consensus': that at early stages of industrialization, authoritarianism is helpful. Even in India we hanker after 56-inch-chested strong leaders. But a moment's reflection tells you that authoritarianism is neither necessary nor sufficient for development. It is not necessary because we know there are countries which have developed reasonably well without authoritarianism.