Why has democracy had so many problems in developing countries?
Start by thinking about power. A medieval country resembles a mountainous terrain. You have a number of lords who have considerable power in their own right: they have followers who are loyal to them, they can raise armies, they have strongholds which they can defend. In contrast, a democracy resembles an absolutely flat plain with a single center of power. Everyone in a democracy is equal. No individual has the power to challenge the central government. Think of Bill Gates. No matter how much money he has, he can’t raise his own army. As Stalin said of the pope, “How many divisions does he have?” In this situation, it’s possible for the central government to enforce peace and security, because it can meet any challenge with overwhelming force. (The downside is that someone who takes over the central government can easily turn the country into a dictatorship, but that’s a different story.) Now imagine that you have a medieval political situation, with lords and militias, and you try to
“On the postcolony” by Achille Mbembe (reviewed here) is a great book, but maybe not a good place to *start* if you aren’t familiar with Foucault. Global Shadows by James Ferguson is very readable, and offers real insights into the place of “Africa” (as a concept) in the world. This includes a discussion of democracy. For democracy to work, governments have to be accountable to the citizens. Simply put, the structure of international aid makes African governments accountable to banks first and citizens second.
I’d suggest reading Confessions of an Economic Hitman. It has been our government’s policy for many years (since the middle 1950’s) to keep third world nations in debt they cannot pay back. I actually was convinced to read Confessions of an Economic Hitman by a prior recommendation by Malor, and would recommend against it for anyone looking for a serious study of the problems with international aid. The book is written like a spy novel, with a complete absence of data to support its claims. A much stronger case was made in about 1% of the space by Joseph Stiglitz after the Asian crisis of the late 90s. Also, I haven’t read it yet, but the recently published The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly apparently makes the case (from a strong free-markets perspective, unlike the preceding writers) that too much western aid is planned by
