Blending Capitalism and Democracy (Part 5 of 5)
© Jason Gottlieb
Throughout this series, the potentially harmful effects of big business, international institutions, and corruption on democracy have all seemed surmountable but for one thing: a lack of resources. How can a poor government resist the lures of corporate billions? How well can a weak nation negotiate with a powerful IMF holding tempting purse strings? And how does a country without the resources to pay its police officers a decent wage prevent them from supplementing their salaries with bribe money?
Obviously, it is possible to have both a healthy economy and democracy; the United States, Western Europe, and many others have achieved it. For the purposes of this essay, I would like to call these nations, generally the OECD nations, "Group I" (see chart below). Some nations, such as several of Asia's "Newly Industrialized Nations" (or NIEs) have managed to develop their economies at the substantial cost of holding back democracy or democratic reforms. Indonesia falls into this category, Group II, as does China and the South Korea of a decade ago. Group III, "poor democracies," is comprised of nations that have a healthy democracy, yet have not managed to begin or maintain healthy economic development, such as India. Group IV is the traditional "underdeveloped world," nations like Rwanda or Bangladesh, which enjoy neither democratic nor economic progress.
Although a few may disagree (Malaysia's Mahatir comes to mind), the overwhelming opinion of the world is that Group I is the place to be. Some nations, like South Korea, are moving gradually toward that goal. Yet many remain stuck firmly in their group, and are having difficulty developing either their economies or democracies. How can nations move from one group to another?
Naturally, the measures that must be taken will vary depending on where a nation is, and where it wants to go. To move from Group II to Group I, a nation needs to develop its democracy without significantly sacrificing economic growth. Contrary to the opinions of some leaders of the People's Republic of China, moving toward democracy does not always automatically hurt economic development. The two key policies necessary are protection for human rights and deregulation (but not, as I will discuss, "unregulation").
Human rights are a key function of democracy. Without the guarantees of freedom of speech and political opinion, potentially harmful policies fomented by the national bureaucracy may go unchallenged, and actually pose a threat to the nation's growth. Without the rights of a free press and assembly, the public cannot obtain the information that is vital to both economic growth, and on a less tangible level, personal and spiritual growth.
