Mike Moore: Open society better for all

Mike Moore

Don McKinnon, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, at the Commonwealth Leaders Conference in Malta over the weekend, suggested democracy alone did not put meals on the table. Wrong. There has never been a famine in a democracy.

However, what he said is worthy of study. Yesterday Mr McKinnon clarified his comments. "I have always stressed that democracy and development are two sides of one coin. People cannot eat democracy, but development cannot occur without freedom."

But many believe that there may be better ways than democracy of delivering economic progress.

During the period of the Cold War there was a sordid consensus that the development needs of newly independent colonies were best met by strong leaders. It's called the "authoritarian advantage". Alas, a squalid but elegant economic theory emerged to justify this proposition. These strong men could be trusted to oppose communism and if they crushed legitimate democratic opposition, that was the cost of the Cold War. Fair enough, given the imperatives of the day.

It was true to say that before parliamentary democracy other legal rights were established in successful countries -property rights, the right to a trial by jury or peers, independent courts, professional merit-based public service.

Democracy is more than an election where the biggest tribe may win and then do what it likes. Democracy is about choosing leaders, about constitutional rule. The rule of law is about the parameters in which governments govern. All these arguments are still true because they are necessary pre-conditions for successful development, as is democracy.

Democracy has always had a hold on the people's imagination. That's why even the most vicious dictators feel obliged to call their countries the democratic people's republic of so and so. Many hold absurd elections still and claim 98 per cent support. Why bother? Because of their need to claim legitimacy. Legitimacy for governments comes only from the people, and the people can only give that if there is a choice.

The many experts who think authoritarian governments can do better do not oppose democracy. Many say they are just realists and argue that mass mob rule can incite ethnic hatred. Democracies' electoral cycles and populist politicians put impossible pressures on resources to fund health and education needs, which can be counter-productive. They say build a middle class first. The most eloquent of this school is Fareed Zakaria who, in his bestseller The Future of Freedom suggests that countries need to lift per capita income levels to US$6000 (NZ$8600)and notes dramatically that once societies have achieved this income level, civil society and the middle class ensure that democracy works. No country that has ever reached this income level has ever rejected democracy and reverted. It becomes embedded and grows.

He suggests Western strategy should be to support "liberal autocracies". But for how long? And is it true that only strong men and liberal force are successful in stamping out extremists who can exploit ethnic and religious differences?

For the first time in history most people are living in a system of self-government. A splendid new study entitled The Democratic Advantage explains:

* 95 per cent of the worst economic performances of the past 40 years were under non-democratic governments.

* Virtually all refugee crises have been wrought by autocratic governments.

* 80 per cent of all interstate conflicts are instigated by autocracies which are more vulnerable to civil wars.

* There has never been a famine in a democracy with a free press.

Poor democracies and countries in transition to democracy have nearly always out-performed authoritarian countries.

Consider what's important. Life expectancy, literacy, infant mortality, agricultural productivity, clean water - democracies get results 20 per cent to 40 per cent higher than their authoritarian counterparts.

There's a popular misconception that democracies have greater debts and bigger deficits. This is not backed up by the evidence. They are less corrupt, more efficient - because their leaders and civil services are more accountable and an active civil society, trade unions and free media are the watch-dogs. This cleansing air of transparency and the adaptability of democratic forces makes for better results. There is such a thing as a democratic peace and democracies rarely go to war with each other. As the number of democracies has increased, the number of wars, indeed civil wars have dropped.

The more open the society and the more open the economy, the better the results.

* Former Prime Minister Mike Moore was also head of the World Trade Organisation.