….Says national cohesion critical to economic devt
A Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Dani Rodrik, has provoked a fresh debate about democracy saying it is not only about elections but protecting the rights of the minority, including the rights of the ethinic and religious minorities.
He also identified the lack of social and national cohesion as a challenge for economic growth in Nigeria, but however said that it was not a problem in Nigeria or Africa but also in advanced democracies as Africa only suffers more because of its ethnic-religious and linguistic differences.
Rodrik said these in his keynote address delivered during the 12th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium, which held on Zoom with the theme: “Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: The Imperative of National Cohesion For Growth and Prosperity”, where he also spoke on the subject of social cohesion in divided societies.
A copy of his speech and transcription of the questions and answers session was sent to journalists on Wednesday.
He said, “It is important to emphasise that democracy is not only about elections. It is about protecting the rights of the minority including the rights of the ethinic and religious minorities.
“On the average, participatory democracies produce greater economic stability and (perhaps) higher economic growth. They are better at avoiding large mistakes and they respond to external shocks better, especially in divided societies.”
Using the example of how democratic countries had responded better to the COVID – 19 pandemic than authoritarian regimes, Rodrik argued that democracy remained the best way to ensure national cohesion.
While answering the question, “Is diversity a curse?” he said the countries that were much more diverse or fragmented in terms of ethinic and linguistic groups tended to perform worse in terms of economic development.
He said, “The general message is that counties that are more fractionalised in terms of ethnic groups or with much more ethnic heterogeneity tend to have high levels of poverty and deprivation and low levels of economic growth and productivity. Many African countries fall in this group.
“There is evidence that ethnic-religious-linguistic divisions leads directly to racism, discrimination, low trust, poor social outcomes, under-provision of collective, public goods, inequality, low growth ethno-national chauvinism, divisive politics, nativist (right-wing) populism and bad politics.”
