Anna Lekvall. Development First, Democracy Later? (Stockholm: International IDEA, 2013, pp. 150)

Abstract

The debate on the primacy between democracy and development is not a new one. It has attracted a number of scholars and practitioners in the fields of democracy and development such as Seymour Lipset, Samuel Huntington, George Sorensen, Giovanni Carbarone, Joseph Siegle, Michael Weinstein, and Morton Halperin. The debate surfaces on two theses: first, economic development paves way for democracy; second, democracy paves the way for economic development. Development First, Democracy Later? is an additional contribution to this debate. The book approaches this debate by mirroring the position of democracy in the development aid agenda. Its analysis focuses on autocratic states: which are aid recipient. The author refers to them as “hybrid states.” The central argument of the book is that democracy has not been a priority in the development aid. Aid for democracy receives less attention comparing to aid for development in aid arrangements. As a result, there is democracy deficit in development aid agenda. This state of affairs largely is by design. Donor community is overtaken by a number of factors: the success of authoritarian developmental states; diplomatic ties; and strategic interests. When these issues come into interplay, often, donors tend to trade-off democracy as a component of aid.