Class 10 | Civics | Chapter-7 | Part-3 of 4 | Outcomes of Democracy | NCERT | CBSE | ICSE Economic growth and development
If democracies are expected to produce
good governments, then is it not fair to expect that they would also produce
development? Evidence shows that in practice many democracies did not fulfil this expectation.
Consider all democracies and all dictatorships for the fifty years between
1950 and 2000, dictatorships have slightly higher rate of economic growth.
The inability of democracy to achieve higher economic development worries us. But this alone cannot be reason to reject democracy. As you have already studied in economics, economic development depends on several factors: country’s population size, global situation, cooperation from other countries,
economic priorities adopted by the country, etc. However, the difference in
the rates of economic development between less developed countries with
dictatorships and democracies is negligible. Overall, we cannot say that democracy is a guarantee of economic development. But we can expect
democracy not to lag behind dictatorships in this respect.
When we find such significant difference in the rates of economic growth between countries under dictatorship and democracy, it is better to prefer democracy as it has several other positive outcomes.
Reduction of inequality and poverty
Perhaps more than development, it is reasonable to expect democracies to
reduce economic disparities. Even when a country achieves economic growth, will wealth be distributed in such a way that all citizens of the country will have a share and lead a better life? Is economic growth in democracies accompanied by increased inequalities among the people?
Or do democracies lead to a just distribution of goods and opportunities?
Democracies are based on political equality. All individuals have equal weight in electing representatives. Parallel to the process of bringing individuals into the political arena on an equal footing, we find growing economic inequalities. A small number of ultra-rich enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth and incomes. Not only that, their share in the total income of the country has been increasing. Those at the bottom of the society have very little to depend upon.Their incomes have been declining. Sometimes they find it difficult to meet their basic needs of life, such as food, clothing, house, education and health. In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing economic inequalities. In Class IX Economics textbook, you have already studied about poverty in India. The poor constitute a large proportion of our voters and no party will like to lose their votes. Yet democratically elected governments do not appear to be as keen to address the question of poverty as you would expect them to. The situation is much worse in some other countries. In Bangladesh, more than half of its population lives in poverty. People in several poor countries are now dependent on the rich
countries even for food supplies.
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