Development and democratic system

                                                                                                     Taye Kebede

The political economic system a country adheres to must link to its own realities. Whatever the path a country takes, it should take into account the country’s realities and must have the capability to solve the problem in a lasting manner. If not, it will be incompatible to the country and people and incapable to solve the problems of the country. And this has made countries not to follow same type of ideological lines.

Based on these facts, the FDRE government that has led the country for the past 25 years has identified the ideological path it will adhere to. But, what does developmental and democratic system mean? How does it differ from liberalism and neo-liberalism? … I will try to look into these issues in this article. But, I have decided to start with discussing neo-liberalism.

The basis of liberalism or neo-liberalism is a thinking that says ‘everything should be left to the market and the private investors; the government should not interfere on the economy except to bring law and order’. As we all know, what the neo-liberals seek in any country is a weak government.

They want for the government to stay away from economic works so that very few wealthy get to do what they want with the economy and the rest just sit idly to watch. The ideology also believes the government should strictly carryout a guarding role. And in order to do that, the ideology forces the sell of big public institutions to private investors.

As it is known, as an ideology, liberalism has always been concerned only about individual rights, not group rights. Its brain-child neo-liberalism has stretched this individual right ‘narration’ to the brink. This has led for the vista of the ideology and it’s proponent to reflect only on individual rights.

For this, we can raise the one time comment of the former British Prime minister Margaret Thatcher in which she claimed, “There is no such thing as society, but individual men and women”. And this fact implicates that neo-liberalism doesn’t accept the existing and unbreakable interlink between individual and group rights.

Neo-liberalism is matured economy that is found on the hands of few. As the basis of the ideology is these few wealthy, any of the political and economic issues are driven or led by these few people. The hand of these people is long.

They are seen trying to drive the politico economy of other countries by meddling into their internal economy. They are also seen enforcing values upon them which are different from the countries’ tradition, nature (characteristics) and outlook. They aim to take advantage of poor countries by forcing them to sell their bid public institutions and sending in their investors to the countries.

Since I have said this much about Liberalism (neo-liberalism), I will try to probe into how it differs to developmental government? What we can understand when we talk about developmental and democratic system is the fact that it deploys two concepts – development and democracy. However, both the democracy and development is a path that aims to benefit the majority of the people. And through it follows a path that benefits not the few but the majority.

In order to realize the development that is undertaken here, notwithstanding the private sector’s role in development of the country, the government will work to enable the development have public basis by entering into selected development sectors. With this, it will administer big development institutions that will directly influence the economy. And we can see this fact from our country’s realities.

It is obvious that a developing country like ours has to mainly pool its own capital, knowledge and labor in order to develop its economy. The economy should not be completely dependent on foreign capital - It has to be local. Considering this, we can see that our country’s economy is both budding and feeble. Although the private sector is playing the necessary role to develop the economy, we can’t say that its capability is strong or mature enough.

Their capabilities will be fully grown and developed along with the economy in the future. So, this force the developmental government to selectively enter in the economy to fill up the void left unfilled by the private sector. The government plays a crucial role in filling the market gaps (imperfection). Thus, it should be understood that one of the reason that calls for the interference of the government in the development path is to enable hasten the development by solving the problems that are created by the market gaps.

Truth be told, in the age we are in, an investor from here would not go in to the rural areas, where more than 85% of our people live, to build schools, clinics, infrastructures etc… to give the public – as a result of various personal and psychological reasons. So, these things are not done poses existential issues, and not market gaps – as development is a life and death issue for our people and government.

And the government needs capital to undertake these developmental projects. Thus, the country’s large public institutions must stay under the control of the government and people as a source of money. The money generated from these institutions has played and will continue to play its role in enabling the public move in a developmental and progressive path.

So since we cannot fill the market imperfection with the private sector like the neo-liberals do, these institutions should stay under the control of the government until our capabilities are strengthened. And as it is known, this approach has shown it is possible to break free from poverty in the past 15 years by following the policies and strategies the developmental and democratic government hatched.

In regards to democracy, the developmental and democratic government follows to a democratic system that goes well the realities of the country. Like any other democratic government, it will have a multiparty system that is led by constitution and an election system. In terms of democracy, it’s not only concerned to private rights like neo-liberalism system – it gives recognition to both private and group rights.

Indeed! Developmental and democratic government believes that a given sect of a given society in a given country cannot be individually free, if their group right isn’t respected. Let me raise the female equality struggle to further illustrate this point.

The women cannot be completely free if gender inequality issue is not solved as a group, despite the fact that their individual rights are respected. So it’s obvious that their gender equality rights are best respected (upheld) as a group as oppose to seeking it individually.

Looking at this fact from our country’s perspective we can see that this is more obvious considering our country is home to more than 75 nation, nationalities and people which had been demanding for generations their rights. In our country human and democratic rights will only be respected through and as a group rather than individually or privately.

Here I would like my dear readers to understand that I’m not saying that individual rights are not upheld within developmental government administration. What I’m saying is that individual and group rights are separate entities and cannot be upheld without each other. This fact is additional difference to the ‘everything must be left to the market and the private sector’ market – fundamentalism thinking of the ideology.

In general, the developmental and democratic government has been able to secure a fast and thriving and a sustainable (for future) economic development. With this it has already started and will further continue to strengthen national-reconciliation in the country. This is true for our country and other countries as well. Our country has been able to have an 11% economic growth every year being led by a developmental and democratic government.

As even the big international financial institutions and proponents of neo-liberalism have said, works that benefitted the majority of the people have been done through the successful policies and strategies the developmental and democratic government formulated. The comprehensive developments that have been recorded for the past 15 years can be illustration to this. Although they have problems, they can be solved through time.

As the developmental and democratic path has its own self-corrective procedures, it has the ability to solve the problems as they come. Therefore, it can safely be said that the government will hasten the development by making the developmental thinking supreme thinking as it looks development and democracy as existential issue for the country – also as the path is compatible to the realities of the country and its success is proven in practical term.

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