China and India – Autocracy v. Democracy

Dear Commons Community,

Nicholas Kristof’s  column today in the NY Times comments on the progress China and India are making to modernize and reform their societies.  Kristoph has traveled extensively in both countries and sums ups that while “China’s autocrats are extraordinarily competent, in a way that India’s democrats are not”, he is impressed with the progress made in recent years in India more so than China.  His comparisons include:

  • China’s economy has slowed at the same pace as the world economy while India’s economy has increased eight percent per year.
  • China’s economy may be slowed by the aging of its population, while India’s younger population will lead to a “demographic dividend” in coming decades.
  • India has managed religious and ethnic tensions pretty well, aside from the disgraceful anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat in 2002…. In China, by contrast, tensions with ethnic Tibetans and Uighurs are worsening.
  • India’s independent news media and grass-roots civic organizations — sectors that barely exist in China — are becoming watchdogs against corruption and inefficiency.

He concludes that while India still lags far behind China, his “hunch is that the world’s largest democracy increasingly will become a source not of embarrassment but of pride”.

Tony

7 comments

  1. Gary,

    I agree that the United Nations has not deterred war although we have not had a global war since its inception. Democracy is indeed desirable and less likely to lead to armed conflicts. However, democracy is not a guarantee that there will not be a war even between or among democratic countries.

    Tony

  2. I get that. And my point is that a BETTER way of preventing war is through democracy. Democracies do not tend to attack other democracies. And if nuclear proliferation suggests that horrific wars are in our future, that suggests that the UN has most likely failed in its mission to prevent war.

    gary

  3. Gary,

    I basically agree with you. I was trying to make the point that the United Nations was not established first and foremost to promote democracy and human rights. Its first priority was to prevent war which it has tried to do by making sure that the major military powers – not necessarily democracies – have greater say in its policies and operations.

    Tony

  4. Anthony,

    Not sure I understand your reply. As I see it, the best way to achieve human rights is through democratization.

    gary

  5. Thanks for the comment, Gary,

    In the Preamble of the United Nations Charter, human rights is second after the prevention of war.

    Tony

    WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

    1. to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
    2. to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
    3. to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
    4. to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

    AND FOR THESE ENDS

    1. to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
    2. to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
    3. to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
    4. to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

    HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS

    Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.