Democracy and Development: Theory and Practice

Rating:
Summary: A well-researched work on international development
Review: Adrian Leftwitch has done a great job of gathering different opinions about the relationship (if it exists at all) between democracy and development. He clearly explains why it is such a crucial issue to study this relationship. For example he cites the pressure that IMF and some Western countries exert on the developing countries for market and democratic reforms as a precondition for financial aid -and also the negative reaction of some of those aid-receiving countries to such pressures- as a sign of the conflicting views about the precedence of democracy or development.

Leftwitch does not just talk in theory. He brings forward an impressive set of papers by other scholars, mostly case studies of the relationship between democratic reforms and economic development in a variety of different countries and supports his arguments with valid data and statistics. These case studies include some fairly stable political systems (such as Botswana and India) and also some volatile, changing or transitioned countries (South Korea, South Africa and Russia) as well as repressive but strong economies (China).

The best papers in the book are those that explore the effects of forced economic development on raising the level of public education and expectations and subsequently the demand for more personal, social and political freedoms and discuss the lack of sustainability in such systems. Notable on this topic are papers on Chile and South Korea. Also, the study of the obstacles that Russia is facing in its attempted transition to a democratic state with a market economy makes a very interesting part of the cases studied.

Using concrete arguments, as well as the evidence suggested by the mentioned case studies, Leftwitch wraps up the book by suggesting the idea of a "Democratic Developmental State". He then goes on to define the characteristics of such a state and proposes his model for economic and political development. This book is definitely an insightful resource for those who are interested in international development and democratic reforms.