FROM THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Democracy, a changed world and poverty eradication

Bengt Säve-Söderbergh, Secretary-General, International IDEA

It is impossible to consider the challenges facing International IDEA today without contemplation of the awful attacks of the 11 of September in New York and Washington DC. We all mourn the loss of the thousands of innocent victims of such terror. And we are all trying to reflect on what are the lessons and what we can do to see that these terrible attacks will not be repeated.

These vicious attacks are a direct assault on the ideals of an open society. Terrorism is an act of violence aimed directly at the institutions of democracy. As a society, we must do all that we can to protect democracy. But also we must reflect on what can be done in those regions of the world where people still do not enjoy the fruits of democracy.

The past decade has seen a growing awareness of the importance of democracy and democratization in spurring global development and in meeting the challenge of eradicating poverty. Today, the role of democracy in development is recognised and the use of democracy terms and conditions are an accepted part of internationally formulated development objectives. Indeed, the relationship between democracy and poverty is today a critical part of the discussion of how to improve global development policies. Through International IDEA's work in developing nations, we recognize the significant connection between the advancement of democratic principles and the development of a given nation. Much remains to be done, and a critical role for International IDEA in the future is to make the case for universal acceptance of the role of democracy in global development.

With the end of the cold war and with the resurgence of market-driven policies in practice at international development institutions, the role of democracy has steadily increased in development policies as well. Only ten years ago, the World Bank first applied the concept of governance in listing criteria for development in its Africa report. What does the World Bank mean by governance? In that report it meant the rule of law, transparency and accountability. These concepts were seen as fundamental to the success of the privatization and market approaches then being applied to nations transforming their formerly centrally-planned state economics. Today, there is a steadily increasing list of terms included in the international development concept of governance, a word that was still a novelty in development circles in the early years of last decade. The World Bank still does not use the "D-word" -- democracy - as one of its terms of governance. For the World Bank, governance is about efficiency and possibly representation but, for the time being, it does not yet include democratic values.

The United Nations is coming closer, particularly when the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, speaks. Governance is a limping concept presently, still viewed by too many development organizations as a technical aspect of a project criteria, and not yet viewed as an integral part of a development policy per se. With the introduction of democracy into the development arena, there is a growing and substantial recognition that development issues are not just technical but also political.

In his latest book, "Development as Freedom," Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen writes that democratic institutions "cannot be viewed as mechanical devices for development." In fact, writes Sen, "developing and strengthening a democratic system is an essential component of the process of development."

Famously, Sen has pointed out that famines do not occur in nations with strong democratic values and institutions. A free press, a constituent assembly, regular elections and other democratic institutions are central to the process of generating informed choices, for a nation, for its leadership, for its people. Thus, democracy does not by itself eradicate poverty but it can build a conducive environment that provides for a more open society, with transparency, accountability, and honest exchanges of information that, thereby, make easier the task of ending famine.

These approaches were not as common some ten years ago. Previously it was more or less taken for granted that poor countries had to be ruled in a more authoritarian way than richer ones. Now, with the writings of Sen and others, and perhaps with the advent of the information revolution, this perspective has changed entirely. Today, the performance of a government in advancing good governance and in establishing democracy is seen as key to achieving development results in whatever nation. Similarly, development banks have embraced the concept of local and civic participation. Concepts such as "ownership" and "empowerment" -- terms hardly in use only a decade ago -- are now central to descriptions of proposed development projects, the world over.

Yet there is much to be done. At International IDEA, we will continue to challenge past notions of development, and to insist that development institutions recognize democracy as a universal value, and as a desired state of development, and not simply as a mechanical tool of a process.

    Bengt Säve-Söderbergh
    Secretary-General
    International IDEA