1 - Democracy and Development – A Disputed Pair
Corresponding Author(s) : Lars Rudebeck
Africa Development,
Vol. 41 No. 1 (2016): Africa Development
Abstract
The text moves in the historical context of decolonization, post-colonialism, globalization and ‘developing countries’. In this context, the two terms ‘development’ and ‘democracy’ are used all over, in everyday language as well as in public and theoretical discourse, not least in relation to Africa. What different meanings do these terms convey? The various concepts referred to by them are often seen as linked to each other. How may such linkages be conceived? These are questions raised in this article. Conceivable answers are presented and analyzed. Emphasis is on concepts existing today and their actual use in grasping or even shaping current realities. The level of the analysis is abstract. But its empirical foundations are very concretely close to the ground, shaped since the 1960s through long periods of fieldwork in Tunisia, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. Concrete references, thus, are primarily to links between politics and people’s efforts in post-colonial Africa to achieve ‘development’, while theoretical inferences are global. The overall answer emerging from the text is that development, including sustainable development, meeting legitimate majority needs and aspirations is more likely to take place under conditions of substantial democracy than under other forms of rule. The equalization of political power through democratic self-empowerment is crucial. Democracy and development are indeed related to each other – but not just any democracy and not just any development, nor all of the time.
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- Arora-Jonsson, S., 2013, Gender, Development and Environmental Governance. Theorizing Connections, Routledge, New York and Oxford: Taylor & Francis.
- Bangura, Y., 1992, ‘Authoritarian Rule and Democracy in Africa: a Theoretical Discourse’, in Lars Rudebeck (ed.), When Democracy Makes Sense. Studies in the Democratic Potential of Third World Popular Movements, AKUT, Uppsala: Uppsala University, pp. 69-104.
- Bangura, Y., 2011, ‘Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution’, European Journal of Development Research, no. 4, Vol. 23, pp. 531-536. www.palgrave-journals.com/ejdr/
- Beckman, B. & Ya’u, Y. Z. (eds.), 2012, Organising for Democracy. Nigerian and Comparative Experiences, Stockholm and Kano: PODSU, AKCDRAT and CRDD.
- Carothers, T., 2010, ‘Democracy and Development Aid. The Elusive Synthesis’, Journal of Democracy, no. 4, Vol. 21, pp. 12-26.
- Chandhoke, N., 2009, ‘What is the Relationship between Participation and Representation?’ in Olle Törnquist, Neil Webster and Kristian Stokke, Rethinking Popular Representation, New York: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 25-37.
- Dahl, R., 1982, Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy, New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Dahl, R., 1989, Democracy and its Critics, New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Griggs, D. et al., 2013, Nature, Vol. 495, 21 March 2013, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v495/n7441/full/495305a.html
- Held, D., 1995, Democracy and the Global Order. From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance, Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Holmberg, S., B. Rothstein, and N. Nasiritousi, 2009, ‘Quality of Government: What You Get’, Annual Review of Political Science, 12, pp. 135-161. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1445066
- Human Development Report 2002, 2002, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York and Oxford.
- Human Development Report 2013, 2013, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York. http://hdr.undp.org/en/
- Huntington, S., 1991, The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Jackson, T., 2009, Prosperity Without Growth. Economics for a Finite Planet, London and Washington: Earthscan.
- Karlsson, B.G., 2011, Unruly Hills. Nature and Nation in India’s Northeast, New Delhi: Esha Béteille and Orient Blackswan.
- Mamdani, M., 1996, Citizen and Subject. Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Melber, H., 2011, ‘Preface’, Development Dialogue, no. 56, Uppsala: Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, pp. 5-10.
- Przeworski, A., M.E. Alvarez, J.A. Cheibub, and F. Limongi, 2000, Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World, 1950-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Przeworski, A., 2004, ‘Democracy and Economic Development’, in E.D. Mansfield and R. Sisson (eds.), The Evolution of Political Knowledge, Columbus: Ohio State University Press. http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/przeworski/papers/sisson.pdf
- Rodrik, D., 2011, The Globalization Paradox. Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy Can’t Coexist, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Rudebeck, L., 1994, ‘Traditional/Modern in Modernised Modernisation Thinking. The Development of a Weberian Dichotomy’, in John Martinussen (ed.), The Theoretical Heritage from Marx and Weber in Development Studies, Occasional Paper no. 10, International Development Studies, Roskilde, Denmark, pp. 131-165.
- Rudebeck, L., 2002, ‘Beyond Democratic Constitutionalism: on the Twofold Meaning of Democracy and Democratization’, African Sociological Review, Vol. 6, no. 1, Grahamstown. South Africa, pp. 173-180.
- Rudebeck, L., 2010, ‘‘They Have Left Us in a Hole.’ Democratisation and Political Power in a West-African Village’, in APAD-Bulletin (journal of the Euro-African Association for the Anthropology of Social Change and Development/Association Euro-Africaine pour l’Anthropologie du Changement Social et du Développement), nos 31-32, December, 2009, Leiden, pp. 65-104 http://apad.revues.org/4067
- Rudebeck, L., 2011, Electoral Democratisation in Post-Civil War Guinea-Bissau 1999-2008, Discussion Paper 66, Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute. http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:464291
- Rudebeck, L., 2012, 2014, Democracy, Development, Globalisation, Power – on concepts, meanings, realities, and their linkages. http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/assets/DDGP-February-2014.pdf
- Scholte, J.A., 2011, Reinventing Global Democracy, paper presented at Global Week Conference, University of Gothenburg, 22-23 November 2011. http://www.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1349/1349829_conf-2011-scholte.pdf
- Sen, A., 1981, Poverty and Famines. An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Sen, A., 1999, Development as Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Tingsten, H., 1945, Demokratiens problem, Stockholm: Norstedts.
- Törnquist, O., 2002, Popular Development and Democracy. Case Studies with Rural Dimensions in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Kerala. Oslo, Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, in cooperation with UNRISD, Geneva.
- Törnquist, O., 2013, Assessing Dynamics of Democratisation: Transformation Politics, New Institutions, and the Case of Indonesia, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Törnquist, O., 2014, Indonesian Democracy: From Stagnation to Transformation? http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/indonesian_democracy_from_stagnation_to_transformation
- United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, 1986, General Assembly Resolution, A/RES/41/128, 4 December 1986, 97th plenary meeting. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r128.htUNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development), 2010. Combating Poverty and Inequality. Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, UNRISD, Geneva. http://commdev.org/content/document/detail/2640/
- Weber, M., 1991 (German original 1918), ‘Politics as a Vocation’ (Politik als Beruf’), English translation in Gerth, H. H. & Mills, C. Wright (eds.), 1991. From Max Weber. Essays in Sociology, with a new preface by Bryan S. Turner, London: Routledge, pp. 77-128.
- World Commission on Environment and Development, WCED (Brundtland Commission), 1987, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to Document A/42/427 - Development and International Co-operation: Environment. http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
References
Arora-Jonsson, S., 2013, Gender, Development and Environmental Governance. Theorizing Connections, Routledge, New York and Oxford: Taylor & Francis.
Bangura, Y., 1992, ‘Authoritarian Rule and Democracy in Africa: a Theoretical Discourse’, in Lars Rudebeck (ed.), When Democracy Makes Sense. Studies in the Democratic Potential of Third World Popular Movements, AKUT, Uppsala: Uppsala University, pp. 69-104.
Bangura, Y., 2011, ‘Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution’, European Journal of Development Research, no. 4, Vol. 23, pp. 531-536. www.palgrave-journals.com/ejdr/
Beckman, B. & Ya’u, Y. Z. (eds.), 2012, Organising for Democracy. Nigerian and Comparative Experiences, Stockholm and Kano: PODSU, AKCDRAT and CRDD.
Carothers, T., 2010, ‘Democracy and Development Aid. The Elusive Synthesis’, Journal of Democracy, no. 4, Vol. 21, pp. 12-26.
Chandhoke, N., 2009, ‘What is the Relationship between Participation and Representation?’ in Olle Törnquist, Neil Webster and Kristian Stokke, Rethinking Popular Representation, New York: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 25-37.
Dahl, R., 1982, Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Dahl, R., 1989, Democracy and its Critics, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Griggs, D. et al., 2013, Nature, Vol. 495, 21 March 2013, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v495/n7441/full/495305a.html
Held, D., 1995, Democracy and the Global Order. From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Holmberg, S., B. Rothstein, and N. Nasiritousi, 2009, ‘Quality of Government: What You Get’, Annual Review of Political Science, 12, pp. 135-161. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1445066
Human Development Report 2002, 2002, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York and Oxford.
Human Development Report 2013, 2013, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York. http://hdr.undp.org/en/
Huntington, S., 1991, The Third Wave. Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century, Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press.
Jackson, T., 2009, Prosperity Without Growth. Economics for a Finite Planet, London and Washington: Earthscan.
Karlsson, B.G., 2011, Unruly Hills. Nature and Nation in India’s Northeast, New Delhi: Esha Béteille and Orient Blackswan.
Mamdani, M., 1996, Citizen and Subject. Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Melber, H., 2011, ‘Preface’, Development Dialogue, no. 56, Uppsala: Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, pp. 5-10.
Przeworski, A., M.E. Alvarez, J.A. Cheibub, and F. Limongi, 2000, Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Well-being in the World, 1950-1990, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Przeworski, A., 2004, ‘Democracy and Economic Development’, in E.D. Mansfield and R. Sisson (eds.), The Evolution of Political Knowledge, Columbus: Ohio State University Press. http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/politics/faculty/przeworski/papers/sisson.pdf
Rodrik, D., 2011, The Globalization Paradox. Why Global Markets, States, and Democracy Can’t Coexist, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rudebeck, L., 1994, ‘Traditional/Modern in Modernised Modernisation Thinking. The Development of a Weberian Dichotomy’, in John Martinussen (ed.), The Theoretical Heritage from Marx and Weber in Development Studies, Occasional Paper no. 10, International Development Studies, Roskilde, Denmark, pp. 131-165.
Rudebeck, L., 2002, ‘Beyond Democratic Constitutionalism: on the Twofold Meaning of Democracy and Democratization’, African Sociological Review, Vol. 6, no. 1, Grahamstown. South Africa, pp. 173-180.
Rudebeck, L., 2010, ‘‘They Have Left Us in a Hole.’ Democratisation and Political Power in a West-African Village’, in APAD-Bulletin (journal of the Euro-African Association for the Anthropology of Social Change and Development/Association Euro-Africaine pour l’Anthropologie du Changement Social et du Développement), nos 31-32, December, 2009, Leiden, pp. 65-104 http://apad.revues.org/4067
Rudebeck, L., 2011, Electoral Democratisation in Post-Civil War Guinea-Bissau 1999-2008, Discussion Paper 66, Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute. http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:464291
Rudebeck, L., 2012, 2014, Democracy, Development, Globalisation, Power – on concepts, meanings, realities, and their linkages. http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/assets/DDGP-February-2014.pdf
Scholte, J.A., 2011, Reinventing Global Democracy, paper presented at Global Week Conference, University of Gothenburg, 22-23 November 2011. http://www.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1349/1349829_conf-2011-scholte.pdf
Sen, A., 1981, Poverty and Famines. An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sen, A., 1999, Development as Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tingsten, H., 1945, Demokratiens problem, Stockholm: Norstedts.
Törnquist, O., 2002, Popular Development and Democracy. Case Studies with Rural Dimensions in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Kerala. Oslo, Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, in cooperation with UNRISD, Geneva.
Törnquist, O., 2013, Assessing Dynamics of Democratisation: Transformation Politics, New Institutions, and the Case of Indonesia, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Törnquist, O., 2014, Indonesian Democracy: From Stagnation to Transformation? http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/indonesian_democracy_from_stagnation_to_transformation
United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, 1986, General Assembly Resolution, A/RES/41/128, 4 December 1986, 97th plenary meeting. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r128.htUNRISD (United Nations Research Institute for Social Development), 2010. Combating Poverty and Inequality. Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, UNRISD, Geneva. http://commdev.org/content/document/detail/2640/
Weber, M., 1991 (German original 1918), ‘Politics as a Vocation’ (Politik als Beruf’), English translation in Gerth, H. H. & Mills, C. Wright (eds.), 1991. From Max Weber. Essays in Sociology, with a new preface by Bryan S. Turner, London: Routledge, pp. 77-128.
World Commission on Environment and Development, WCED (Brundtland Commission), 1987, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to Document A/42/427 - Development and International Co-operation: Environment. http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm