Asian Tigers, produced remarkable economic achievements, many others
have not, notably in Africa. A comparison of 135 countries over a 40-year
period showed that spectacular development is as likely under democracy as
dictatorship, and produced not ‘a shred of evidence that democracy need be
sacrificed on the altar of development’ (p. 271).
There does, however, appear to be agreement that for a democratic state
to be developmental it requires institutions, political forces and socio-
economic structures that are rarely found in developing countries. The
developmentalcapacity of a democracy will depend partly on politics, espe-
cially levels of political equality and participation, and the type of party
system. Politics, rather than regime type, determines whether a country is
successful economically. To achieve development there needs to be a
‘developmental state’ rather than economic and political laissez-faire. State
intervention has historically been associated with economic growth in the
developing world. This implies that democracy plus the right policy pack-
age can bring about economic development andthe political benefits of
improved rights and liberties. Development does not need authoritarianism
(Leftwich, 1996, 2000; White, 1998).
A developmental democracy also needs institutions to enforce property
rights and contracts, providing incentives for investment and innovation.
Investment in machinery, equipment, education and the financial sector
(‘keys to development’) will not take place unless effective judicial and
administrative institutions are in place. While both authoritarian and demo-
cratic regimes have been capable of protecting and neglecting property
rights, there has been a ‘substantial connection’ between the institutions of
representative government and individual rights of property and contract
(Clagueet al., 1997, p. 97). Long-lasting democracies provide better prop-
erty rights than autocracies. However, causal effects are difficult to specify
since there are factors favourable to both lasting democracy and property
rights (and thus economic performance), such as equality or the absence of
ethnic and racial divisions.
Democracy also contributes to development by providing a context for
effective policy reforms. For example, political participation was necessary
for educational reform in Burkina Faso. The rule of law enabled community-
based resource management to go ahead in Tanzania. Democratic governance
gives ‘stakeholders’ incentives and opportunities to improve public services.
There is a reciprocal relationship here – sectoral reforms support democracy
when they are designed to provide opportunities for participation, accounta-
bility and transparency, so generating social capital and providing experience
of government mechanisms and processes (Brinkerhoff, 2000).
278 Understanding Third World Politics