Monday, November 11, 2013

Dictatorship verses Economic Growth

                                                                                                                   Number of words:702
          In the world we live in today, It is believed that democratic governments are the best way to go if a country wants to become economically successful. It is also believed that governments ruled by dictators undergo economic failures. There was research going on to determinate whether economic success depends on the type of government a country has. The result showed that democracy was not the direct cause of economic growth. “ One group of economists found growth induced democracy in East Asia; democracy did not leas to growth”(The Economist). Another research made was comparing the economic growth between countries with both political and economical freedom to countries that were economically free but were politically repressed. The result also proves that the democracies are not the only way to get to a successful economic growth of a country. “Between 1991 and 2005, the countries that were economically free but politically repressed grew at 6.28% annually. Comparatively, the countries that were both economically and politically free grew at 2.62%. in other words some dictatorial regimes make better economic decisions for citizens than democratic ones”( "Democracy Correlated with Economic Growth?"). With these results it can be inferred that after all, all dictatorships are not bad and with a good dictator who knows how to manage the state resources for betterment of the country and its people, can keep the countries economy growing.
          Lets take Korea as an example, “ Modern Korea shows that dictators maybe able to bring about economic development”("Business & Money''). For 26 years, South Korea was a country that was largely dominated by autocrats. From 1961 to 1979, Park Chung Hee was the ruler of that nation and during that time Korea went from a state of poverty to a state prosperity, they build industries, electronics, cars, etc. “Korea simply couldn't function as a democracy before a higher level of development was achieved. '' The gem without luster called democracy was meaningless to people suffering from starvation and despair,'' Chung Hee once wrote”(''Business& Money''). Due to the growth that Korea had experienced, eventually dictatorship failed. Democracy took place and there was greater increase in the economy. This is to show that dictatorship can be needed and even helpful to bring some countries out of poverty and make their economy grow but up to a point then it might be time for democracy. There is a country that is still surprisingly keeping its economy growth at a high rate and still doesn't change into a democracy, that country is China. “ Beijing’s leadership believes the country can develop a modern, market-oriented economy without political openness. In fact, they see democracy as a threat to the nation's economic progress”(''Business & Money''). China has showed another example of how a country can prosper without being completely a democracy. China economy is growing at a much faster rate than many other democracies, “ China's economic growth rate kicked up 7.8% in the third quarter over a year ago, faster than rates of 7.7 in the first quarter and 7.5 in the second”("The Wall Street Journal").
         Dictatorship can be successful in helping bring a country from a poverty place to a certain economic growth that is why it is needed in developing countries. Most people thought that developing countries are just in need of a democratic government for their economy to start developing. But the example of South Korea shows that a dictatorship might be the right government to start improving the economy of some countries like developing countries. For example Egypt's precipitation into starting a democratic government lead to “ Egypt's economic continuous losses in all its sectors”( "Egypt Economy Continues Downward Trend''). May be Egypt wouldn't have suffer this economic crisis if it had waited to reach that economically stable growth state, where democracy would have been crucial for higher economical development. Despite what is commonly said, that developing countries need democracy for their economy to grow and their well being, after looking at the results of these researches it can be inferred that economy is not a directly cause by the type of government. Also it can be inferred that dictatorship can help develop the economy of some developing countries to some extent.



Resources
  • The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/03/growth-0>.
  • "Democracy Correlated with Economic Growth?"The Economic Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-28/news/31107886_1_economic-growth-hdi-countries>.
  • "Business & Money."Business Money Is Democracy Necessary for Economic Success Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. <http://business.time.com/2010/11/05/is-democracy-necessary-for-economic-success/>.
  • "The Wall Street Journal."China Needs 7.2% Growth to Ensure Employment(n.d.): n. pag. Web. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303482504579179033609323974>.
  • "Egypt Economy Continues Downward Trend - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East."Al-Monitor. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. <http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/egypt-economy-gulf-aid.html>.





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