The controversy over development and democracy There has been a series of debate over the two constructs as to which comes first and later. It is worth looking at these controversial issues of the modern and information era where interdependencies among countries have become so obvious for some possible reasons. America is now dominating and controlling the largest share of the worlds economy and it needs the rest countries to follow its economic systems and policies. With globalization, it is almost impossible for any country to remain an island and if it does it is deemed as a clear declaration to exist in a closed system and hence to remain isolated from the rest of the world. The sanctions and unnecessary allegations imposed up on poor countries for not supporting the westerns ideology has become a common experience. Though this fact is aired over media as a countrys problem to respect certain agreements, rules or it can be said, for example, as violation of human rights. For any normal and sensible person, the issue of democracy at the present era is not just an option but necessary and the meaning attached to it goes beyond words. Countries have different experience regarding the above raised controversial issues. Here, for example, the Arab revolution is a recent phenomenon which begun in Tunisia and later leaked to Libya, Egypt and other North African countries . That was really a good indicator of how much the people have been deprived of democracy. Currently Chinas economy is worlds second largest economy and according to some reports it takes only few years for China to take the lead and it is assumed that the worlds power house will be transformed from the West to the East. Despite this fact, it seems that the issue of democracy has no room in China but it is continuously growing at a rate which other countries have never experienced. USA itself has been criticizing China for violating human rights .The working assumption for China unlike USA is that it is development that leads to democracy. On the other hand, USA is worlds largest economy that supports the idea that democracy leads to development. Proponents of this ideology argue that democracy should be the precondition for development, and promoting democracy is the approach to reach prosperity, development, security and peace. However, in some cases, it seems that this is counterproductive. For example. Bushs administration attempts to establish democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq seem to have left both countries in chaos. Is it really political democracy that leads to economic development? Or does economic development lead to political democracy? Which one is better for African countries? why? Dear friends have your say on this for we all are responsible to enrich the current literature and change the pace of discovery.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Apr 2014 18:17:55 +0000