Democracy and Development
政治paper代写 This paper aims to assess the relationship between democracy and development, and determine what type of relationship there is between the two.
Introduction
This paper aims to assess the relationship between democracy and development, and determine what type of relationship there is between the two. Generally, it has been seen that countries that are democratic in nature and have successfully been able to integrate democracy in their systems are far more developed than countries where the level of democracy may be less. Additionally, it should also be noticed that the infrastructure and technological development of democratic countries is far more advanced than the latter. This research aims to determine if there is indeed a causal relationship between the two factors and how have countries been able to develop and prosper over the years by democracy as a means to step up in the game. It is said that there is a complex relationship between democracy and development and each paly a strong part in supporting the other, although one is greatly dependent on the other. The paper begins by understanding what democracy and development actually is, and then goes on to assess some key (causal) linkages between democracy and development, and how the two are in fact linked together and that democracy in fact is a is a (pre)requisite for development, in light of the modernization theory. 政治paper代写
The paper discusses the relationship between democracy and development and then moves on to disclose the apparent relationship between China and India, establishing both as rivals, however, with both having different types of governmental systems. Development indicators are discussed in detail along with democratic indicators such as the objective and subjective indicators, however, the primary focus of the paper will be on development indicators in order to assess whether there really is a causal relationship between democracy and development, and whether the former truly is a pre-requisite of the latter.
However, with indicators like Gross Domestic Products, Gross National Product, and Human Development Indicators being used to determine the performance of the two countries, it is then determined that democracy is not needed to ensure the progress of a nation and the development is dependent upon governmental policies and the political structure that is developed for the governance of the country. The structure sets apart the two countries from one another and allows one to gain an advantage in terms of its earnings and year on year growth.
Finally the paper is concluded based on the results obtained from the research and the study and it is determined that democracy is not necessary in order to ensure the development and progress of a nation. Examples are cited from India and China and it is learned that while India is the world’s largest democracy, even so, the country is not yet developed to the extent that China has achieved over the years. Additionally, China is considered to be a super power in the Asian continent and is expected to become a super power of the world in the next couple of years.
Democracy and Development 政治paper代写
Democracy is usually meant to state that the power lies in the hands of the citizens directly or indirectly through a system of representation which forms the government and thus, the country is governed by that body (Shihata I. F. I., 1997). The minimalistic and basic definition of democracy is that it is an institutional arrangement, for reaching political conclusions and taking political decisions in which individuals gain the power to make those decisions through a competitive struggle against other contenders for the vote of the people” (Schumpeter, 1942).
There are 7 key elements which are important to ensure the prevalence of democracy which form the criteria for a democratic government. These include;
- Elected Officials have the power to control the decisions taken by the government.
- The elections are free, and fair, and occur after frequent intervals.
- People have the right to run for the public office.
- The citizens have freedom of expression
- Universal Adul suffrage
- The citizens have access to multiple sources of information, which are not monopolized or manipulated by the government or any other party.
- The citizens have the freedom of association i.e. they can form any groups or join any parties whether political or humanitarian, or any other groups of interest they want to be associated with.
Democracy allows the citizens to gain civil liberties along with civil rights, whereas, the entire process is highly inclusive, free from any corruption, or repression, and allows citizens to make informed decisions, by having access to immense information.
Development on the other hand is described as all forms of human progress, and the enjoyment of a better quality of life (Shihata I. F.I, 1997). When a country progresses, the focus on development, whether it be for infrastructural development, educational institutes, or technology, increases, which eventually improves the way of life for its citizens. This in turn leads to happy residents, who are satisfied with the government and happy with the decision they have made. Thus, democracy and development have a unique relationship with each other. The positive correlation between (high levels of) wealth and (established) democracy, first captured by Martin Lipset in his famous 1959 essay ‘Some Social Requisites of Democracy’, is one of the strongest and most enduring relationships in the social sciences (Menocal A. R. 2007). According to the PENN world table dollars, democratic regimes never subside once a specific income level is reached. While there is a strong correlation between the two, it does not mean that democracy is the actual cause of development. Some people define development as freedom, such as Sen (1999), whereas, others have a more confined view of what development entails. However, for those who define democracy as freedom, on both political as well as individual level, along with having all rights and liberties, while the governing authorities assume transparency for the general public to see and be involved in the matters related to progress, along with providing protective security and safety to all its citizens, then many experts state that development is indeed a cause of democracy and actually helps in progressing the country further (Menocal A. R. 2007).
Indicators of Democracy and Development 政治paper代写
Different strategies have been developed to measure democracy by social scientists, for empirical analysis which include measures utilizing ordinal scales, objective measures, categorical measures, hybrid measures, perceptual measures, and opinion based measures. The corruption index, and perception of transparency are some of the indicators being used to determine the effectiveness of democracy in the country along with the level of development. IDEA (International Instutute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance) has developed a framework via which they assess the democracy in a country, however, it is not based on the country’s ranking, rather it is based on the results of the national assessment teams, which are formed by the civil society or government, and even sometimes academic institutions to determine the overall effectiveness of the level of democracy within the country.
In this paper we will be looking at three indicators of democracy and development, and assess the performance of the selected countries based on them. The indicators that we have selected to discuss include; Democracy Scales, Objectives Measures, Hybrid Measures, and Perceptions of Democracy and Institutional Trust.
Now we will look at each of the indicators separately to understand what each one holds and entails, thereby, having a clear understanding regarding how best to assess this information and then compare the two countries selected for this paper, namely China and India.
Democracy Scales
This represents an ordinal scale which measures democracy based on a specified criteria, which judges countries. It assumes that democracy is continuous and provides scales from high to low range, thereby, making it easier to assess the sentiment of the general public. The polity data series assesses the democratic and autocratic features and provides a scale which determines the level of democracy or the level of autocracy that is prevalent in a country. The scale ranges from -10 to +10, with responses for various scenarios and questions being provided by the citizens. These assess political stability, civil rights and liberties, government responsiveness, corruption, government transparency and accountability, military police and control, free and fair elections, law and its implementation, and civic and political participation along with political parties. Freedom House has two separate scales for political and civil liberties that range from 1 (full enjoyment of liberties) to 7 (full restriction of liberties), which have often featured in cross-national comparisons in some combined form as a measure of democracy (Helliwell, Beck L, Berckhurt, 1994). These measures provide greater variation in democracy and provide a glimpse of what the situation may be like. However, this approach does not give a clear picture of the democratic performance of the countries and even presents a view based on political unrest which may be found in an authoritarian and democratic state.
Objective Indicators 政治paper代写
These measures do not have a fixed set of criteria for judging the democracy within a country. Instead objective measures concentrate on the available indicators that judge and ascertain the performance of democratic practices. There are different measures of participation and contestation that are used, such as the percentage of parties with the smallest number of members, in the national legislature, which measures contestation. On the other hand the turnout received in national elections, that percentage is used to measure the level of participation. The index of democratization is then developed by multiplying the measures of contestation and participation. This method is objective and presents a much better and clearer picture of the level of democracy in a country.
However, there are some drawbacks to this method, such as the fact that this method does not take into account the type of electoral system within the country. This has a direct link to the number of parties that are present in the legislature, as countries with a larger proportional representation, which may have greater number of parties than countries with smaller parties. On the other hand, some countries even have laws which make voting compulsory for all eligible citizens, therefore, making the number of people who voted not be because of voluntary turnout. However, even with all these drawbacks, the measure has been used for a quantitative analysis (Menocal A. R. 2007).
Hybrid Measures
Hybrid measures on the other hand make use of both objective as well as subjective measures in order to measure democracy in the country. This strategy was used by Staffan Lindberg, to focus on three dimensions of elections, i.e. competition, participation, and legitimacy. The objective measures that he used included voter turnout, percentage of votes received by the candidate who won the elections, the percentage of seats won by the winning party, and the runner up’s number of seats won. On the other hand the subjective measures included the fairness of the elections, the level of corruption within the country, and the opportunity received by the opposition to participate in the elections, and if the elections process went smoothly and was peaceful. These measures were viewed separately, which in turn led to the analysis of the democratic state along with the level of development within that country.
Indicators of Development 政治paper代写
There are multiple indicators of development which are used to assess the progress of a country and helps in determining how well a country is performing. As mentioned earlier, a country is considered to be well developed when the institutions are strong, law and order is prevalent and being followed, there is no civil unrest among the citizens, and the life of the people has improved and upgraded from their previous generations’. Following are some of the indicators of development.
- GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
- GNP (Gross National Product)
- GNP per capita
- Mortality Rate
- Human Development Index
- Literacy Rate
- Life Expectancy Rate
These are some of the indicators of development which can be used to determine the level of development in a country and even to identify and address gaps (if any). Now we will look at each factor in detail.
Gross Domestic Product
The GDP is a measure of the level of money that is made by a country from the products that are produced there during the course of a year, which is usually converted to US dollars as most of the currencies are pegged against it.
Gross National Product 政治paper代写
This is the sum of GDP along with the earnings on any investment that the country has made abroad (inclusive of the country’s residents’ earning abroad) less the amount that is being earned by the non-nationals living in the host country.
GNP per Capita
This is calculated as the GNP divided by the population of a country thereby, giving the idea of the GNP per capita. This is one of the most common indicators that is used to measure the development of a country, however, this measure does not take into certain forms or types of production, which sometimes makes it an imperfect measure.
Mortality rates
The mortality rates refers to the birth and death rates per 1000 citizens, which can be used to determine the overall state of healthcare services being provided to the population at large, along with the level of education within a country. However, these numbers are not indicative of the entire picture of the country and the situation it is in.
Human Development Index (HDI) 政治paper代写
The HDI is a combination of multiple measures, which include the education index, life expectancy index, expected and mean years of schooling index, along with the income index. Each country receives a ranking based on how they score on each index and the sum of all the indices. One the rank is determine, the country is them split into categories, depending on where its score lies, and based on how well they are ranked, shows how developed the countries actually are.
Literacy Rate
This helps in indicating the level of educated people within the country as it measures the number of people who are able to read. It is considered to be a highly useful indicator, as a literate population is more aware of the consequences of its actions.
Life Expectancy Rate
The life expectancy rate is used as an indicator to determine the quality of life, along with the level of healthcare services available, with the level of sanitation within the country. It also includes the care that is available for the elderly, thereby, judges the quality of life being led by the population.
Analysis of Indicators 政治paper代写
The two countries that have been selected for this paper are China and India. Both countries are developing nations that have shown phenomenal growth over the past years. India is considered to be the largest democracy in the entire world, whereas, China on the other hand has the largest population in the world. Both countries have a growing middle class, due to which the Western World consider them to be emerging economies. Both of the economies have been growing at a phenomenal rate which has attracted immense investment from abroad, to the extent that now both countries have started investing their resources in other countries. In Asia, India is consider to be one of the leading economies by the United States of America, especially, with a huge work force comprising of mostly youngsters. The average GDP growth rate of India is 6.72% which is considered to be one of the highest in today’s era. India is now projected to become power house of the world economic order. This is projection given by Goldman Sachs and other economists (Rigi F. M., 2011).
On the other hand the average GDP growth rate for China has been 6.8%, again an impressive figure which has led the country to develop faster and advance in both technology and industry, thereby, improving the quality of life for its people. Since many of the countries are outsourcing their services and production to China, that production is helping the economy grow and improve. Most of the smartphones are manufactured in China with some even being assembled there. With the competition among the two countries increasing with each passing year, experts anticipate who will have a stronger influence on the Asian market, as both the countries are trying to be the dominant player. The two compete today in not just trade, but also manufacturing and commerce along with operating in international markets. These emerging economies have paved way for newer products and multinational companies have successfully exploited their larger population base. India’s capacity is considered to be its precious resource, i.e. the human capital whereas, for China it is considered to be technology along with cheap labor force. Just like in India, China too has a young workforce which has become the country’s strength over the past couple of years, and has allows it to successfully maintain GDP in double digits, earning trillions of dollars through sheer hard work and production on a large scale. India’s GDP, while significant on its own, falls short of the level that is being earned by the Chinese economy.
With a 1.379 billion population, China scores slightly higher than India that has a population of 1.324 billion.
However, despite this China’s economy is far superior than India’s economy, due to higher GDP, GNP, and even the Human Development Index. In the aforementioned section, many different indicators were mentioned and discussed in detail, out of which these three indicators have been selected to analyze and compare the two countries though to become the super powers of the Asian continent. Even China’s GNP (Gross National product) is more than double that of the Indian economy’s, which suggest that China’s growth is far greater and performance far better than India. China has been consistently maintaining its GDP growth rate of 6.8%, which shows that the country’s performance has been well maintained to help its citizens avail a certain level of life. However, even with this rate, the ranking of the country is not that high where he Human Development Index is concerned. In addition to Health, Education, Civil Rights and Environmental issues, the latest Human Development Index is added by the most dynamic concept such as empowerment, sustainability/ vulnerability, Gender inequality (Rigi F. M., 2011).
Both China and India are part of a group of countries in HDI ranking which are termed to be the “Medium Human Development” countries, where China ranks at the 90th Rank and India on 131st (HDI, 2016). 政治paper代写
Currently, it ranks on the 90th number, showing that the level of care and facilities being offered to the citizens may not be as high as anticipated or expected from an economy that is growing at such a phenomenal rate. However, The China National Human Development Report 2016, which was initiated two years ago, shows that of the 47 countries classified as having a low level of human development in 1990, China is the only one that has now achieved a high level. According to the report, the contribution of China’s economic growth to its HDI growth was 56.3 percent, with that proportion reaching a peak of 65.5 during the 1980s (Quora). While the overall rate is not that good, there are certain provinces in China where the HDI is high such as Kerala with a HDI of 0.790, and Hong Kong with HDI of 0.910. As can be seen in the table, the value of China’s HDI is better and far greater than that of India. Stronger result is primarily due to the fact that the number of educated people in China is far greater than the number of educated people in India, due to which India ranks lower in the HDI ranking. The life expectancy at birth for Indians is also considered to be less from the life expectancy for Chinese people. In china primary school dropout is almost nil whereas India’s school dropout rate is highest in the Medium Human Development Index group countries (Rigi F. M., 2011).
| Economic Indicators | China | India | ||
| 2015 | 2016 | 2015 | 2016 | |
| GDP | $20.3 trillion | $21.66 trillion | $8.265 trillion | $8.852 trillion |
| GNP per Capita | $19.73 trillion | $ 21.37 trillion | $ 7.926 trillion | $8.594 trillion |
| HDI | 0.738 | 0.727 | 0.609 | 0.624 |
Moving on, there are certain other factors that will be discussed in order to determine the relationship between democracy and development.
Many people are of the opinion that China is a democratic country however, others are of the opinion that Chinese democracy is different from the democracy being followed in the western world. As mentioned earlier as well, India is consider to be the largest democracy in the world, because China is not considered to be a democracy by most people in the world due to its communist approach and the fact that the country only has one political party. While China does have elections to elect the members of the parliament, however, the right to select and appoint the president still lies with National People’s Congress. A government in China is always formed by the Communist party nullifying the crux of Democracy (Shrinag, 2017). The leadership is autocratic in nature, as most people are not allowed to stand in governance who are not party members of their only political party. This shows that the country is in fact not democratic in nature, and then begs the question that even without democracy the country has been performing well, and progressing with each passing year based on the year on year growth discussed above. Therefore, India is in fact the biggest democracy, even though there is a lot of political unrest in the country with the matter of Muslims and Hindus clashing with each other, especially with BJP taking an extreme take on things and acting out that leads to much unrest politically and economically which affects the HDI ranking.
Human resource is the key element of both countries which sets it apart from others. Both countries have extremely talented youngsters at their disposal, with the only challenge being that China has a higher ratio of educated youngsters as compared to India, which gives the country a competitive edge. In order to become a dominant figure in Asia, both countries need to focus on and develop their human capital further. China has proved that the economic dominance of world economic power could be exercised without democracy but with enhancement of human development indices measured in terms of health, education, gender equality and equal and equitable distribution of wealth even through non democratic influences (Rigi F. M. 2011).
However, India on the other hand is making use of the mixed economy, while proving that a democratic state can be successful as well, however, as the table provided above indicated, even with the level of population the country isn’t performing as well as it can and should, therefore, the emphasis on further developing the human capital. Side by side, the country needs to focus on building technologies that help advance it further into becoming the biggest democratic economy of the world.
Results 政治paper代写
Based on the aforementioned information and the results obtained from the analysis of the indicators of the two chosen countries, i.e. India and China, it can be determined that the Chinese economy is far more developed than the Indian economy and thus showing that it is not necessary for a country to be a democracy in order to be successful. Progress depends on the policies that are being decided upon and implemented, while at the same time, how well the citizens are able to except and adjust to those policies. When looked at closely, China fares better on all indices when compared with India, even though the difference in their population is minimal at most.
What should be taken as key learning from China is their focus on providing the basic amenities of life to its citizens at a superior level, thereby, improving the level of life. This is done through technological advancements, focus on infrastructural development, and ensuring education among the younger generation. India needs to focus on increasing the number of educated youngsters so that it can fare better on the HDI ranking. At the same time, development will be made possible with better educated and well equipped work force. Democracy is not a pre-requisite of development as has been shown by the progress China has made over the years. It can also be noticed that with proper practices and policies, which are accepted by the majority of the population a country can develop into a power to be reckoned with. China has become one of the leading countries of the world and is on its way towards becoming the super power as well. All of this has been made possible not because the country is a democracy but because it is not. Or perhaps, democracy never has a role to play in its development, neither did being a communist country and it was the desire to make life better for its citizens that helped the country prosper and grow.
Conclusion
In the end it can be concluded based in the aforementioned results that while there is a relationship between democracy and development, it is not necessary for a country to be democratic in nature in order to succeed. A clear cut example is that of China, which even after not being a democracy has been successful in becoming one of the biggest countries of the world, especially with the manufacturing sector growing at fast pace and many of the multinational corporations outsourcing their production units here. Additionally, it must also be noticed that education and technological advancements have played a key role in ensuring the success of the country.
On the other hand, India, considered to be the largest democracy of the world, is not even close to the levels that have been achieved by China. As has been presented in the table, the GDP and GNP is less than half of China’s with year on year growth close to the Chinese economy’s, however, the talented younger generation seems to be under utilized. While much of India’s success can be attributed to democracy, China’s example still shows that even without being a democracy economic development can be achieved and made possible. The country has not only proved this but also has become one of the leading country’s that is said to become the next super power of the world.
The results indicated that while being a democracy is beneficial to a country, it does not ensure development and success for the country. Two countries with different political structures were compared with each other and it was determined that while China does not possess a democratic system, and is not a democracy, the level of development that it has achieved is far greater than the world’s largest democracy.
References 政治paper代写
Alina Rocha Menoca, ANALYSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT: DEFINING BASIC CONCEPTS AND ASSESSING KEY LINKAGES, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/1981.pdf
Dr.Feisal Mirkazehi Rigi, A BRIEF COMPARISON BETWEEN INDIA AND CHINA AS EMERGING ECONOMY IN ASIA, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
http://www.ijeronline.com/documents/volumes/Vol%202%20issue%206/ijer20110206ND(13).pdf
Democracy and development, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
http://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~delittle/Democracy%20and%20development.pdf
Dr. Todd Landman, Developing Democracy: Concepts, Measures, and Empirical Relationships, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
Measuring Democracy and Democratic Governance in a post-2015 Development Framework, UNDP, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
Democratic indicators and trends, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/Driving%20Democracy/Chapter%203.pdf
Is Democracy a Pre-Condition in Economic Growth? A Perspective from the Rise of Modern China, UN Chronicle, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
Shrinag, Why is China not a Democratic Country? Here are the 10 Reasons for China being a Communist Country, retrieved 3-5-18 from;
https://metrosaga.com/why-is-china-not-a-democratic-country/
