Flawed Democracy And Development

"The book provides robust discussions on the ways in which Jamaicans are experiencing flawed democracy; the impact it has not just on the political system and their political participation but also economic development and socio-cultural challenges"--

The book provides robust discussions on the ways in which Jamaicans are experiencing flawed democracy; the impact it has not just on the political system and their political participation but also economic development and socio-cultural challenges.

Freedom in the World is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. The methodology of this survey is derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and these standards are applied to all countries and territories.

"Development First, Democracy Later? explores how politics and democracy plays out in reality in Africa as the major aid-receiving continent. It points to the seriously challenged political situations that aid countries engage in. Moreover, it looks at the Paris agenda aid modalities from a democracy perspective. It illustrates the on-and-off relationship with democracy concerns in the aid system. In addition, the book points to the challenges of aid, which are too often, based on a wrongful assumption that development comes first and democracy only (hopefully) later. The book brings to question the fundamental construction of the aid system and the values that drive it. While making a push for seeing the value of democracy on its own merits, as well as its advantages for development, the book poses some serious questions on the way the aid system is built and argues for substantive changes in the aid landscape. Issues raised are relevant for many discussions - from China as a development model, the aid system and - not least - for the debate on the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals."--

In The Struggle for Development and Democracy Alessandro Olsaretti proposes a humanist social science as a first step to overcome the flaws of neoliberalism, and to recover a balanced approach that is needed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Questions surrounding democracy, governance, and development especially in the view of Africa have provoked acrimonious debates in the past few years. It remains a perennial question why some decades after political independence in Africa the continent continues experiencing bad governance, lagging behind socioeconomically, and its democracy questionable. We admit that a plethora of theories and reasons, including iniquitous and malicious ones, have been conjured in an attempt to explain and answer the questions as to why Africa seems to be lagging behind other continents in issues pertaining to good governance, democracy and socio-economic development. Yet, none of the theories and reasons proffered so far seems to have provided enduring solutions to Africa’s diverse complex problems and predicaments. This book dissects and critically examines the matrix of Africa’s multifaceted problems on governance, democracy and development in an attempt to proffer enduring solutions to the continent’s long-standing political and socio-economic dilemmas and setbacks.