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HUMAN DEVLOPMENT AND GOVERNANCE
3.1 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
“We define HD as expanding the choices for all people in society. This means that
men and women - particularly the poor and vulnerable are at the center of the
development process. It also means protection of the life opportunities of future
generations and the natural systems on which all life depends.”
(Source: UNDP, HDR 1996)
“HD is about people, about expanding their choices to lead lives they value
Fundamental to enlarging human choices is building human capabilities, the range
of things that people can do or be.”
(Source: Opening Sentence, HDR 2002)
3.1.1 Human Development Concepts
As Aristotle said in ancient Greece, “Wealth is evidently not the good we are
seeking, for it is merely useful for the sake of something else.” In seeking that
something else, HD shares a common vision with human rights. The goal is human
freedom and in pursuing capabilities and realising rights, this freedom is vital.
People must be free to exercise their choices and to participate in decision-making
that affects their lives. HD and human rights are mutually reinforcing, helping to
secure the well-being and dignity of all people, building self-respect and the respect
of others.
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“The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's choices. In principle, these
choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements
that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures, greater
access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods,
security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and
cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities. The objective
of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long,
healthy and creative lives.” Mahbub ul Haq
Fig-1
21st century HD strategy can be promoting participation through democratic
governance (Fig-1). Participation promotes collective agency as well as individual
agency. It is important because collective action through social and political
movements has often been a vehicle of progress for issues central to HD protecting
the environment, promoting gender equality, and fostering human rights. In
addition, participation and other HD gains can be mutually reinforcing. Political
freedom empowers people to claim their economic and social rights, while
education increases their ability to demand economic and social policies that
respond to their priorities. (Source: HDR 2002)
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Fig- 2
The links between democracy and equitable development needs to be strengthened.
When more growth is considered, democratic institutions and processes contribute
to development (Fig-2). But the links are by no means automatic. Social injustices
are widespread in democratic and authoritarian regimes alike, whether deliberate or
otherwise. The HD paradigm is a holistic development model. It embraces every
development issue, including economic growth, social investment, people's
empowerment, and provision of basic needs, social safety nets, political / cultural
freedom and all other aspects of people's lives. While no aspect of the development
model falls outside its scope, the vantage point is widening of people's choices and
the enhancement of their lives. All aspects of life - economic, political and cultural
are viewed from that perspective. (Source: HD Foundation, Pakistan)
3.1.2 Sustainable Human Development
As per UNDP there are four key components of sustainable HD, all affecting the
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lives of the poor and vulnerable (Box-1). These can be practically achieved through
following five actions:-
Empowerment- The expansion of men’s and women’s capabilities and choices,
increasing their ability to exercise those choices free of hunger, want and
deprivation. It also increases their opportunity to participate in, or endorse decision-
making affecting their lives.
Co-operation- A sense of belonging important for personal fulfillment, well
being and a sense of purpose and meaning. HD is concerned with the ways in which
people work together and interact.
Equity- The expansion of capabilities and opportunities means more than
income. It also means equity, such as an educational system to which everybody
should have access.
CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
HD is a process of giving people more options. At all levels of development, the three essential rights that people have are to lead long and healthy lives, to acquire knowledge and to have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living.
The following are four key components of sustainable human development:
1. Productivity: People must be allowed full participation in the process of income generation and remunerated employment. 2. Equity: People must have access to equal opportunities. 3. Sustainability: Equity must be ensured not only for the present generations but for future generations as well. 4. Empowerment: Development must be by the people, not for them
BOX-1 (UNDP 1995)
Sustainability- The needs of this generation must be met without compromising
the right of future generations to be free of poverty and deprivation and to exercise
their basic capabilities.
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Security - Particularly the security of livelihood. People need to be freed from
threats, such as disease or repression and from sudden harmful disruptions in their
lives.
3.1.3 Human Development Index
The UNDP’s HDI is a country level measure of social welfare based on national values for
average life expectancy, rates of adult literacy and school enrollment, and GDP per capita.
It is used to determine and indicate whether a country is a developed, developing, or
underdeveloped country and also to measure the impact of economic policies on
quality of life. The index was developed in 1990 by Indian Nobel prize winner
Amartya Sen, Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, with the help from Gustav
Ranis of Yale University and Lord Meghnad Desai of the London School of
Economics and has been used since then by the UNDP in its annual HDRs. The
HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of
HD:-
A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.
Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight)
and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrolment ratio (with
one-third weight).
A decent standard of living, as measured by the log of GDP per capita at PPP
in US$.
Since HDI is based entirely on national averages it lacks any information about the
distribution of health, education, or income within countries. The distribution or
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access to key resources is an important determinant both of average levels of health,
education and income as well as absolute levels of deprivation. Due to this measure
of inequality, HDI is severely hampered in its ability to depict accurately the levels
and changes in social welfare.
3.1.4 History of Changes in HDI
Since inception in 1990 HDI has been reviewed and revised to capture measurement
of HD in better and scientific manner. The UNDP has been exceptionally receptive
to criticism regarding poor data, incorrect choice of indicators, and poor
specification of HDI overall and of HDI’s income component in particular. On
some points, HDI has been changed significantly in response to its critic’s charges
to the education and income indices. On other points, improved arguments have
been incorporated justifying the existing HDI formula. The year wise changes
incorporated are summed up as below.
Year HDI Components
1990
Component Index = (maximum-actual)/(maximum-minimum)
HDI = 1 - average of component indices
Ranked from worst (1) to best (130)
Maximum and minimum for current year
Education Index = adult literacy only
Income Index = log10 (PPP GDP/capita), with the average poverty line
for nine OECD countries as maximum
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1991
Ranked from best (1) to worst (160)
Education Index = adult literacy and mean years of school enrollment
Income Index = Atkinson formula = y* + 2(GDPi - y*) ½ + 3(GDPi -
2y*) + threshold; y* is the average poverty line for nine OECD
countries
1994
Component Index = (actual-min)/(max-min)
HDI = average of component indices
Fixed minimum and maximum (LE: 25/85 yrs, LIT: 0%/100%, ENR:
0%/100%, Y: $200/$40,000)
1995
Education Index = adult literacy and combined gross school enrollment
Income minimum changed to $100
1999
Income Index = Natural log (PPP GDP/capita) up to $40,000
(Source: UNDP 1990 to 2005)
3.1.5 Other Indexes
Human Poverty Index: The Human Poverty Index (HPI) is an indication of the
standard of living in a country, developed by the UN. The HDRs website
summarises this as (HPI-1), a composite index measuring deprivations in the three
basic dimensions captured in HDI a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent
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standard of living. For highly developed countries, the UN considers that it can
better reflect the extent of deprivation for selected OECD countries. This (HPI-2) is
a composite index measuring deprivations in the three basic dimensions captured in
the HDI a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living and also
capturing social exclusion (Annexure ‘D’).
Gender Empowerment Measure: The GEM is a measure of inequalities between
men's and women's opportunities in a country. It combines inequalities in three
areas political participation and decision making, economic participation and
decision making, and power over economic resources. It is one of the five indicators
used by the UNDP in its annual HDR.
Calculating the GEM involves several steps. First- percentages for females and
males are calculated in each area. The first area is the number of parliamentary seats
held. The second area is measured by two sub-components: a) legislators, senior
officials, and managers, and b) professional and technical positions. The third area
is measured by the estimated earned income (at PPP US$). Second, for each area,
the pair of gender percentages is combined into an Equally Distributed Equivalent
Percentage (EDEP) that rewards gender equality and penalises inequality. It is
calculated as the harmonic mean of the two components. The EDEP for economic
participation is the unweighted average of the EDEP for each of its sub-
components. The EDEP for income is computed from gender sub-values that are
indexed to a scale from 100 to 40,000 (PPP US$). Finally, the GEM is the
unweighted average of the three EDEP.
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Gender Development Index: The GDI is an indication of the standard of living in
a country. It aims to show the inequalities between men and women in the area of
long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living (Annexure ‘E’).
GDI is simply HDI discounted or adjusted downwards for gender inequality.
Calculating the GDI involves three steps.
Step 1: Unit-free indices between 0 and 1 are calculated for females and males in
each of the following areas: (1) life expectancy, (2) education (the adult literacy rate
and the combined primary to tertiary gross enrollment ratio), (3) estimated earned
income (at PPP US$).
Step 2: For each area, the pair of gender indices is combined into an Equally
Distributed Index that rewards gender equality and penalizes inequality. It is
calculated as the harmonic mean of the two indices.
Step 3: The GDI is the unweighted average of the three Equally Distributed
Indices: Equally distributed life expectancy index, equally distributed education
index, equally distributed income index.
Fraser Institute’s Index of Human Progress: Since its introduction in 1990, the
United Nations HDI has attracted a great deal of attention as a measure to gauge the
development of nations. In UNDP index GDP per capita is adjusted, to limit its
impact in the index. It assumes that GDP per capita should be discounted on the
grounds that per capita income contributes minimally to development when it rises
past a certain modest amount. In addition, too little attention is paid to historical
trends in HD, whereas measuring development requires knowing how a country has
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progressed over time, not just how it compares to other countries in a single year.
The Fraser Institute’s Index of Human Progress is based upon unadjusted GDP per
capita and measurements from 1975 through 1999. This assumes that as GDP per
capita increases, the well being of the citizens of that country increases. The Fraser
Institute's Index of Human Progress uses unadjusted GDP per capita (1995 US$)
and 10 development indicators, six more than the HDI. Using more indicators
allows drawing clearer distinctions among countries. As long as data is reliable, a
greater number of indicators permit clearer distinctions among countries. In
addition, using more indicators makes the Index less vulnerable to any unreliability
in data, as the impact of a biased indicator on the overall score is reduced when
more indicators are used. The cost of increasing the number of indicators is that
fewer countries can be included in the Index of Human Progress (128 rather than
the UN 162) because some does not have complete data. The Fraser Institute's Index
of Human Progress uses the following indicators:-
Health
Life expectancy
Infant mortality (per 1,000 live births)
Mortality of children under five years of age (per 1,000 live births)
Adult mortality rate (number of adults, per 1,000 adults, not expected to
survive to age 60
Education
Literacy rate
Combined enrolment rate (combined primary, secondary and tertiary)
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Technology
Number of televisions (per 1,000 persons)
Number of radios (per 1,000 persons)
Telephone service (per 1,000 persons)
Fraser Institute has argued that
a key indicator of the state of
development in a country is
the diffusion of technology
within it. The availability of
leisure goods indicates that
citizens have choices about
how to spend their time and
money. Telephone service is included because an effective communications
infrastructure is important for a country to get beyond a moderate level of
development. One of the most important results of this study is that most countries
show an increase in their score on how much people's lives have improved over the
past twenty-five years (Graph-1).
Graph-1 The HDI with and without adjustment of GDP per capita
(Source: Fraser Institute’s Alternative to the United Nations Development Index Fred McMahon, Joel Emes, Oct 2001)
Social Indicators of Development: ‘SID’ contains the World Bank’s most
detailed data collection for assessing human welfare to provide a picture of the
social effects of economic development. Data is presented for over 170 economies,
omitting only those for which data are inadequate. Indicators reported are
considered useful for identifying broad trends and differences. The indicators refer
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to somewhat different dates within three broad time spans: 25-30 years ago
(centering on 1965), 15-20 years ago (centering on 1975) and most recent estimates.
Up to 94 indicators are reported for each country including size, growth, and
structure of population, determinants of population growth (including data on
fertility and infant mortality), labor force, education and illiteracy, natural
resources, income and poverty, expenditure on food, housing, fuel and power,
transport and communication, and investment in medical care and education. Each
of these indicators is broken into several subcategories.
(Source: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank, 1995)
HDI beyond HD: The HDI has been criticized as being redundant because of its
high correlation with per captia income (McGillivray, 1991). This doesn’t seems to
be a valid objection since the correlation is imperfect, especially among low income
countries. HDI does tell us more about a country’s performance on some basic
elements of HD than income per capita when one adopts a broader definition of HD.
Thus extending the concept and measurement of HD to a broader set of dimensions
seriously affects the way one should measure and assess countries performance.
A paper written by G. Ranis, F. Stewart and E. Samman has considered how well
the HDI represents HD when more broadly defined. Following other contributions
in defining the characteristics of a full life, it identified 11 categories that seem to
encompass all the major dimensions of HD. For each category, it then identified a
potential set of indicators that seem to plausible measures and for which data are
available. Authors investigated correlations among these measures, and, in order to
reduce the number of variables representing each category, they included only one
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indicator for any set of indicators that are highly correlated with each other, also
retaining any indictor that does not show a high correlation with the any other
indicator in its category. Following the same procedure, researchers found that
under-five morality rates perform equally as well, as the HDI and income per capita
is less representative of other dimensions of human development. Additional
choices include political freedom, guaranteed human rights and self-respect. The
aim was to include only variables that are broadly independent. As per paper,
following are broad categories of HD:-
The HDI itself.
Empowerment.
Social relations.
Political freedom.
Mental well being.
Community well being.
Environmental conditions.
Economic security.
Leisure conditions.
Political security.
Work conditions.
Inequalities.
(Source: Journal of Human Development, Nov 2006)
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3.2 GOVERNANCE
The functions of government should be threefold, the creation of law, the
administration of law, and the enforcement of law. In that respect, structuring a
government with these functions in mind would appear to be ideal. This has
generally led to the creation of governments with legislative branches possessing
powers for the creation of law, executive branches possessing powers for the
administration of law, and judicial branches possessing powers for the enforcement
of law. Checks and balances between these branches have generally been added in
an effort to protect the divisions of responsibilities between the branches, but
perhaps history has shown that the best checks and balances are in the hearts and
minds of the people.
While many people have a general philosophy about what government should and
should not do, they often struggle to answer the question when faced with specific
policy problems. The role of government then is to secure the liberties enjoyed in
the state of nature by limiting individual behavior when it harms others. Exactly
what those limits should be and what kinds of behavior should remain unregulated
are the subjects of debate. Adjusting the continually tipping balance between liberty
and order is the primary business of government & politics.
(Source: Doug Casey, WorldNetDaily.com, Sep 2001)
Harry Browne demonstrated persuasively why government programs have a failure
rate over 99%. They never live up to their promises, too often do the exact opposite
of what was promised, always cost far more than their initial estimates, and create
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the conditions that justify enlarging themselves and adding more government
programs. As per him the seeds of today's runaway government were planted when
it was decided that government should help those who can't help themselves.
“Helping those who can't help themselves” is a paraphrase of Karl Marx's famous
dictum, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” Once
this principle is adopted, more and more people will want to be part of the needy,
rather than part of the able, because nearly everyone prefers to be on the “to” side of
transfers, rather than the “from” side.
(Source: Why Government Doesn't Work, Harry Browne)
Whatever our views about the way we are governed and the people who occupy
positions of power, the business of government is something we cannot avoid, it is
all-pervading. Despite this, there is an alarming degree of ignorance and apathy
about the institutions and workings of government and the political process itself.
The dynamic political process is like studying the human body by visiting a
mortuary. There are many books about government in Britain and other individual
countries, but relatively few that attempt to cover a wider canvas.
(Source: In Defence of Politics, Crick Bernard, 1982)
The current governance framework has evolved to incorporate the values of various
actors, having the dominance of market values. Notwithstanding the continuous
search for better governance in developing countries, there is to date no consensus
about the meaning of governance in both policy and academic circles. Actually
governance frameworks emanate from the interactions of actors within governance
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contexts, while striving at the same time to guide the present and future behavior
and actions of actors.
Governance is interactions among structures, processes and traditions that
determine how power is exercised, how decisions are taken, and how citizens or
other stakeholders have their say. It comprises the mechanisms, process and
institutions, through which people articulate their interests, mediate their differences
and exercise their rights and obligations. By 1999, the international development
community had reached the consensus that poverty reduction should be the ultimate
end of development. Notwithstanding the importance of politics in the overall
governance process, the current framework tries to de-politicise governance since
politics is regarded as the source of corruption in its various forms. This is as a
result of the way politics is perceived by the exponents of good governance.
Politics is regarded as the source of corruption in its various forms.
(Source: D. Mcneill, ‘Human Development’, Journal of Human Development, March 2007)
3.2.1 Conceptualising Governance
The World Bank: Governance is defined as the manner in which power is
exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources. The
World Bank has identified three distinct aspects of governance (1) the form of
political regime (2) the process by which authority is exercised in the management
of a country’s economic and social resources for development and (3) the capacity
of governments to design, formulate and implement policies and discharge
functions.
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Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which authority in a
country is exercised. This includes the process by which governments are selected,
monitored and replaced, the capacity of the government to effectively formulate and
implement sound policies, and the respect of citizens and the state for the
institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them.
UNDP: Governance involves the exercise of political, economic and
administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs at all levels. It
comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and
groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations
and mediate their differences.
It is the process whereby public institutions conduct public affairs, manage public
resources and guarantee the realisation of human rights. Good governance
accomplishes this in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption, and with due
regard for the rule of law. The true test of good governance is the degree to which it
delivers on the promise of human rights, civil, cultural, economic, political and
social rights. The institutions of governance should effectively guarantee the right to
health, adequate housing, sufficient food, quality education, fair justice and personal
security.
(Source: Good governance and human rights, UN Conference on anti-corruption measures, Warsaw,
November 2006)
UNESCAP: Governance means, the process of decision-making and the process
by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Governance can be used
in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national
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governance and local governance. Since governance is the process of decision-
making and the process by which decisions are implemented, an analysis of
governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making
and implementing the decisions made and the formal and informal structures that
have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision.
OECD: The concept of governance denotes the use of political authority and
exercise of control in a society in relation to the management of its resources for
social and economic development. This broad definition encompasses the role of
public authorities in establishing the environment in which economic operators
function and in determining the distribution of benefits, as well as the nature of the
relationship between the ruler and the ruled.
Commission on Global Governance: Governance is the sum of many ways
individuals and institutions, public and private, manage their common affairs. It is a
continuing process through which conflicting or diverse interests may be
accommodated and cooperative action may be taken. It includes formal institutions
and regimes empowered to enforce compliance, as well as informal arrangements
that people and institutions either have agreed to or perceive to be in their interest.
Mahbub-u-Haq Human Development Centre: Human Governance is governance
dedicated to securing human development. It must enable the state, civil society and
the private sector to help build capacities, which will meet the basic needs of all
people, particularly women, children and the poor. It requires effective participation
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of people in state, civil society and private sector activities that are conducive to
human development
Planning Commission of India: The problems of governance 20 years from now
will still include those issues which occupy attention today. These are transparency,
corruption, non-responsiveness, favouritism, bureaucracy, inefficiency, lack of
accountability, ineffectiveness of implementation etc. But rising expectations,
increasing levels of education, greater access to information and greater prosperity
will work to mitigate these factors to a large extent.
India NHDR 2001: Governance for HD relates to the management of all such
processes that in any society, define the environment which permits and enables
individuals to raise their capability levels on one hand and provide opportunities to
realise their potential and enlarge the set of available choices on the other.
3.2.2 Types of Governments
The Greek philosopher Aristotle was the first to attempt a systematic classification
of governments- any system whereby political authority is exercised. His main
distinctions were between government by one person, by few and by many
(monarchy, oligarchy and democracy). Although the characteristics of each may
vary between states and each may degenerate into tyranny (rule by an oppressive
elite in the case of oligarchy or by the mob in the case of democracy).
Modern systems of government distinguish between liberal democracies, totalitarian
(one-party) states and autocracies (authoritarian, relying on force rather than
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ideology). There are two types of governments, constitutional and non-
constitutional. Constitutional governments have a written document stating their
laws, rights and responsibilities. Just because a government has a constitution
doesn't mean it is a constitutional government. It must also be limited in power,
follow a higher law, and have constitutional stability. Types of constitutional
governments are representative democracies that are either presidential,
parliamentary or a mixture of the two. The presidential form of a representative
democracy has a chief executive often called the president or premier. He is elected
for a definite term of office. The constitution usually limits the leader to one or two
terms of office. In parliamentary, the chief executive must be a member of the
lawmaking body, so the leader of the majority party is automatically the prime
minister. Whenever the majority party loses a vote on a major issue, the prime
minister must resign and call for new elections. Non-constitutional governments are
dictatorships and absolute monarchies. These are hard on the citizens because they
don't have many rights. Totalitarian and authoritarian are the two types of non-
constitutional governments. In an authoritarian government, the power to make
decisions is in the hands of one person or a small group. Totalitarian government is
another form of authoritarian in which the government controls every aspect of
society.
(Source- S. Stephen, Government Building a New Nation, American Timeline, Oak View Elementary School)
The French philosopher Montesquieu distinguished between constitutional
governments whether monarchies or republics which operated under various legal
and other constraints and despotism, which was not constrained in this way. Many
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of the words used (dictatorship, tyranny, totalitarian, democratic) have acquired
negative or positive connotations that make it difficult to use them objectively.
The following would appear to be an ideal way to classify the types and forms of
government, along with simple definitions and distinctions for those types and
forms, as far as how they relate to the relationship between the rights and
sovereignty of the citizens as compared to one another, and as compared to their
government.
Types:
Centralized: A type of government whereby the sovereignty of the parties to
the union is totally in the control of the government.
Adhesioned: A type of government whereby the sovereignty of the parties
of the union is mostly in the control of the government.
Confederated: A type of government whereby the sovereignty of the
government is totally in the control of the parties to the union.
Associated: A type of government whereby the sovereignty of the
government is mostly in the control of the parties to the union.
Polarized: A type of government whereby the sovereignty of the parties to
the union and the government is shared or divided equally.
Forms:
Communism: A form of government, which is structured in a manner
whereby no party entity may possess and enjoy any sovereignty that is not
specifically authorized by the government.
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Socialism: A form of government, which is structured in a manner whereby
no party entity may possess and enjoy any sovereignty that is specifically
forbidden by the government.
Libertarianism: A form of government which is structured in a manner
whereby all party entities possess and enjoy full sovereignty, as long as the
expression of that sovereignty does not conflict with the sovereignty of any
other party, or that afforded to the government.
Democracy: A form of government which is structured in a manner
whereby any party entity may possess and enjoy any sovereignty, as long as it
is either authorized or not forbidden by agreement of the majority of the
parties.
Anarchy: A form of null government whereby all entities possess and enjoy
whatever sovereignty they can maintain by force, regardless of the harm it
causes to the sovereignty of other entities.
Level:
Town
State
National
Global
(Source: The Advocates for Self-Government, April 2004)
3.2.3 Seven Categories of 20th Century
There are always shades of gray in any government. Even the most liberal
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democracies limit rival political activity to one extent or another, and even the most
tyrannical dictator must organise a broad base of support. So it is very difficult to
pigeonhole every government of the Twentieth Century into following seven
narrow categories.
Multiparty Democracy: A government is democratic that is, whether its leaders
are chosen by means of fair, competitive elections, and whether its citizens are
allowed basic civil rights. As far as this category is concerned, it doesn't matter
whether the ultimate head of state is a monarch or president as long as the day-to-
day policy decisions are in the hands of elected representatives. By strict high
school definition, the citizens of a "democracy" exercise power directly, whereas
the citizens of a "republic" delegate power to elected representatives. Democracy is
defined so narrowly that it applies to absolutely no working government
whatsoever. All they've left us is the word republic, which they've defined so
broadly that it encompasses such diverse nations as the US, France, China and Iran
and yet is still too narrow to include constitutional monarchies like Japan and
Sweden. The common meaning of democracy is any government which derives its
power through the consent of the governed, regardless of how that power is
structured.
Limited Democracy: These are governments, which come close to being full
democracies, but they fall short in one critical field. It usually varies from country
to country. Some have freely elected legislatures subject to the veto power of a
military junta, a monarch or a strong president. Others are provisional governments
run by coalitions pending new elections. Many are fully tolerant democracies which
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disenfranchise a substantial percentage of their adult population especially women
early in the century.
Communist: The economy of these nations is centrally planned and operated by
fiat. All industry is owned by the state. Power is monopolized by a centrally
organised party, which supports its legitimacy by quoting Marxist dogma.
Technically, Communism is an economic system rather than a political system
Authoritarian: These are regimes, which severely limit who may participate in
politics and stifle dissent with varying degrees of brutality.
Military Junta: The regime came into power through force of arms, and one
or more career military officers set policies.
Single Party State: Power is restricted to a single faction with a unified
goal.
Autocracy: A single leader rules by decree. One person who wields more power
than others. If the civilian head of state has challenged the forces that originally
brought him into power. For example by purging of the ruling party in a one-party
state, or by declaring martial law in a democracy.
Monarchy: A Monarchy, from the Greek μονος “one”, and αρχειν, “to rule”, is a
form of government in which a monarch, usually a single person, is the head of
state. In most monarchies, the monarch holds their position for life.
Traditional Monarchy: The state is considered the private estate of a single
family. It is ruled at the discretion of the monarch and passed down from
father to son throughout eternity.
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Constitutional Monarchy: A constitutional monarchy is a form of
government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an
elected or hereditary monarch as head of state.
Unclassified: There are three categories for regimes, which don't really have a
classifiable government:
No Self-Government : The region is under the authority of an alien and
geographically detached nation.
No Government: Because of widespread civil war the authority of the
central government does not reach throughout the nation. Policy decisions are
determined by firepower.
Category Uncertain: There is just not enough information to even guess at
what kind of government these countries have.
Classification of countries based on above system of governance can be seen at
Annexure ‘F’. (Source: Matthew White, December 2002)
3.2.4 World History of Governance
Number of Independent Governments: Number of countries having multiparty
democracy increased from non existent level to almost about 85 in 1997. It followed
a wave form with a turf in 1925 and 1962. In contrast autocratic governance which
was at peak in 1977 is now at a decline and currently less then 10% countries fall
under this category (Graph-2). In 1995, 73 of the world's 192 sovereign states were
liberal democracies and 72 were emergent democracies, 13 had authoritarian
nationalist regimes, 12 absolutist, 8 nationalistic-socialist, 7 military, 5 communist,
and 2 Islamic- nationalist.
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Graph-2
World’s Population and Regimes: The percentage of the world's population under
various political systems from 1900-1997 can be seen through Graph-3. What is
striking is that even today approx 22% of world population is still under communist
rule. With democracy being enjoyed by 61% of people it seems to have a better
future.
D 61%, L 2%, O 1.1%, M 4%, C 22%, Mo ½%
Graph-3
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World Bodies and Effects: First International organisation with almost all the
countries as its member was League of Nations (LON) formed in 1920. In its 26
years of life many new members
joined and many left. The main
cause of the failure of LON was
expulsion of certain states and
defiant approach of few other
countries combined with non
democratic style of functioning
of the league (Fig-3). The IInd
WW was the result and end of
the league.
(Fig-3) League of Nations 1920-46
Formed in 1945 with better International understanding and laws the UN is now the
most powerful and stable International organisation. Out of total 200 states, UN is
able to influence 177 countries for their progress towards democracy through the
instrument of HDRs/HDIs (Fig-4).
(Fig-4) UN in 1945 (S
ource: Matthews White)
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Regional Regime Changes: Polity IV contains coded annual information on
regime and authority characteristics for all independent states (with greater than
500,000 total populations) in the global state system and covers the years 1800-
2004. (Graph-4)
Graph-4
Apart from sudden rise in 1920 and equally sudden fall in 1940 the growth was
normal till end of IInd WW. There after the sharp upward movement reflecting
increased countries option for free and democratic state can be seen by the fact that
number of nations scoring more than 8 or higher rose from about 20 in 1950, to 60
in 2000, crossing 90 in 2005 (Graph-5). Polity IV report begins with a table that
summarises the regimes (Annexure-G).Its composite index gives scores for the
listed year and the previous year for the current regime, and an indication whether
the coded scores are tentative or not. The Polity IV country reports contain a
graphic in the upper right hand corner that tracks the country’s polity changes from
1946 to present and with a reference grid denoting thresholds for Democracy (+6
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and above), Autocracy (-6 and below), and the end of the Cold War (1991) and
symbols denoting special regime conditions. (Source: Polity IV, Country Reports 2003, CIDCM)
Graph-5
One Party States 1945-95: A single-party state or one-party system is a type of
government in which a single political party forms the government and no other
parties are permitted to run candidates for election. Sometimes de facto single-party
state is used about a dominant-party system where unfair laws or practices prevent
the opposition from legally getting power. Some single party states only outlaw
opposition parties but subordinate allied parties can exist as part of a popular front.
Fig-5
Relative Population of One-Party States, where power was kept for more than 30 years.
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A one-party system should not be confused with a non-partisan democracy which
prohibits all political parties. Also, some one-party states may allow non-party
members to run for legislative seats, as was the case with Taiwan's Tangwai
movement in the 1970s and 1980s. In most cases, single-party states have arisen
from fascist, socialist, or nationalist ideologies, particularly in the wake of
independence from colonial rule (India). One-party systems often arise from
decolonisation because one party has had an overwhelmingly dominant role in
liberation or in independence struggles.
Democratic Governments 1945-1995: There has been a lot of turnover in regimes
over the past hundred years. Almost every nation on the planet has seen at least one
violent or unconstitutional change in leadership over the past hundred years. In fact,
there are only a handful of countries that have had an unbroken chain of legitimacy
since 1900, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and
Canada.
Fig-6
Relative Population of Long-Term Democracies
(Nations who spent more than 30 years as democracies during the period 1945-95)
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Democracy has seen some notable failures. The fall of Weimer Germany to the
Nazis is the mythic example, but there have been plenty of other democracies that
fell to more or less homegrown tyranny, Italy in 1922, Brazil in 1964, Chile in
1973, India in 1975 and Argentina in 1976. On average, at any given time during
last century, 31% of the human population has been living in fully democratic
nations. That means that one out of every three people has been able to speak his or
her mind with reasonable safety, and attempt to guide his or her nation's policy
without fear of legal retaliation. Sure, 31% is still a minority.
Monarchies, are supposed to pass father to son, but none have survived the past
hundred years without surrendering power to liberal parliaments. The only absolute
monarchies still around are younger than the 20th Century. Single-party states are
supposed to have orderly transitions of power, but here too, none have managed to
go a full century without collapsing. Compared to all these failures, democracy
looks a bit tougher.
The biggest enemy to democracy in the 20th Century has been Fascism, which was
actually voted into power in both Germany and Italy according to strictly
constitutional procedures. After dismantling those very same constitutions, the
Fascists then invaded and conquered neighboring countries, many of which were
stable, peaceful democracies. Across the century, other more or less fascist regimes
have replaced democracies time and again with military coups and declarations of
national emergencies.
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Communism has never been voted into office, nor has it overthrown a democracy,
which has been around longer than three years (Czechoslovakia, 1948). Democracy
has never flourished where Communism took hold, but the relationship is mostly a
matter of smothering the growth of democracy, rather than replacing it where it
stands. Historically, democratic regimes are immune to Communism.
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