The countries in the world have reached 195 with the United Nations having a membership of 193

members with South Sudan having joined in 2011 is the latest and youngest member of the
association. This leaves two non-member observer countries which are Holy See and State of
Palestine. Of the 195 countries Africa accounts for the highest number of member countries which
is 54 countries, Asia is second with 48 countries while Europe in third have 44 countries with 33
countries coming from Latin America and Caribbean with Oceania and Northern America
accounting for 14 and 2 countries each respectively (Worldometers, 2017). It is also worth
mentioning that among 193 UN member countries, at least 125 countries are said to be democratic.
This means that democracy is a system or rather a governance system that have been recommended
by the United Nation to be observed by its member state though most of them are just observing it
partially the case of most African countries.

Does democracy improve the quality of life for its citizens? Scholars have long assumed that it
does, but recent research has called this orthodoxy into question and a lot of debates have been
established. While there has always been controversy over the question of whether democracy
enhances economic growth (Kurzman et.al 2002; Przeworski et al. 2000), the consensus view has
been that democracy enhances human development (e.g., Boix 2001; Brown & Mobarak 2004;
Dreze & Sen 1989; Ghobarah et.al 2004; Lake & Baum 2001; Lenski 1966; Lipset 1959; Meltzer
& Richards 1981)

This paper is going to critically discuss the institutional challenges that democracy seeks to address
in order to promote positive and sustained change in the rate of growth and social development of
any given country. This will take a wider but specific review of some key literatures that have been
drawn in an attempt to look at the relationship between democracy, and growth and social
development. The paper will begin by defining key concepts and phrases that will be used in the
entire document in order to enhance the cognitive understanding of what the essay is really trying
to bring across.

The word democracy is a term that comes from Greek and it is made up with two other words
demos means People and kratein means to govern, to rule. Democracy can then be literally
translated by the following terms: Government of the People or Government of the Majority
Democracy, as a State form, is to be distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy and dictatorship.
You may have already heard about the most common definition of democracy: the government
of the people, by the people and for the people (Abraham Lincoln as quoted by Becker and
Raveloson, 2008). To put it in another way we can say that a government comes from the people;
it is exercised by the people, and for the purpose of the peoples own interests.

However, the definition for democracy in this paper will be a form of government in which power
and civic responsibility are exercised by all adult citizens, directly or indirectly through their freely
elected representatives. This definition will be a key to the discussion of this paper.

According to Kyari (2017) social development or human development is an expansion of human

capabilities, a widening of choices, an enhancement of freedom, and a fulfilment of human rights.
Whereas the United Nations Development Programme (1997) defines it as the process of enlarging
peoples choices and choices allows them to lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to enjoy
a decent standard of living as well as political freedom, other guaranteed human rights and various
ingredients of self respect. While Streeten (1994) defines it as a process of expanding choices
people have to lead lives that they value, and improving the human condition so that people have
the chance to lead a full life.

It is not surprising that when most people hear the word governance what comes into their minds
and thoughts is government. This is very normal after all, both have govern as their root word
engraved inside them. However, it is imperative to mention that governance is about more than
just government. It is a complex yet universal force that exists in all societies. People use
governance in their daily lives to manage human relationships, just as corporations and countries
use it to manage their interaction and activities. According to Cheema and Maguire (2008)
governance is a neutral concept comprising the complex mechanisms, processes, relationships and
institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their rights and
obligations and mediate their differences.

According to Oxford English dictionary growth is the process of undergoing natural development
by increasing in size and changing physically. It is also the process of coming into existence and
develop or increase in numbers over time. The process of amalgamating.

Having defined all the key terms in the discussion lets now look at some of the key institutional
challenges that democracy is trying to address in order to promote positive and sustained change
in the rate of growth and social development of any country. These institutional challenges
includes wrong popularity of the word democracy, bad governance, economic and political
inequalities, rule of law, election malpractices, information deficiencies, civic engagement by the
citizens.

The problem with democracy has been its very popularity, a popularity that has threatened the
terms undoing as a meaningful political concept. In being almost universally regarded as a good
thing, democracy has come to be used as a little more than a hurray! word, implying approval
of a particular set of ideas or system or rule. As argued by Bernard Crick (1993), that democracy
is perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public affairs. A term that can mean
anything to anyone is in danger of meaning nothing at all. This popularity is making the term
becoming obsolete such that people will be singing about the country being democratic when in
reality it is far from it. This also makes it difficult for some so called democratic countries to deal
with the institutional challenges of democracy in order to enhance and promote positive and
sustainable growth and social development around the global.

Hence, the first challenge that democracy needs to overcome in order to enhance a positive and
sustained change in growth and social development is actually seeing to it that the word is not just
used based on its popularity but let the works and practices really show that democracy exists in a
particular country or regions of the world. By fostering the spirit of true democracy it will be even
easy to deal with other institution challenges because you would have the real equipment to
identify and intervene amicably. According to U.S. Department of State, Democracy in Brief
(Global Publishing Solutions democracy is more than just a set of specific government institutions;
it rests upon a well understood group of values, attitudes, and practices all of which may take
different forms and expressions among different cultures and societies around the world

Bad governance in a simple definition is the absence of good governance or lack of good
governance. According to Cheema and Maguire (2008) good governance addresses the allocation
and management of resources to respond to collective problems; it is characterized by the
principles of participation, transparency, accountability, rule of law, effectiveness, equity and
strategic vision. In practice, these principles translate into certain tangible things such as free, fair
and frequent elections; a representative legislature that makes laws and provides oversight; and an
independent judiciary that interprets laws. This is the interesting area of democracy because
through good governance a lot of social phenomenon are being affected positively to enhance
growth and change.
This shows that when there is democracy then you expect good governance which translates into
principles of participation, transparency, accountability, rule of law, effectiveness, equity and
strategic vision. It is out of these that positive and sustainable rate of growth and social
development stem and grow into huge development country wide. Participation, transparency,
accountability and equity will provide each citizen a chance to enhance both their civic rights as
well as gain economic advancements.

Economic and political inequality is another challenge that democracy seeks to address as the route
to ensure vast economic and social development in the world. Pluralism is based on controversial
discussions whose results are often built on compromises which eventually satisfy all the involved
groups, or at the very least, are acceptable as a whole. According to Becker and Raveloson (2008)
in pluralism, either dialogues, points of view exchanges or discussions, as well as ideas and
opinions that are debated there have a constructive feature within the framework of social
processes of expression of ideas and political will of citizens, even if they are either contrary to or
opposed to the regime in place or even closer to the opposition. This means that people should not
be empowered or rather considered based on their political affiliations but let them be judged on
merits and also their needs.

There is also an economic divide that have risen and is growing very fast between the poor and the
rich people as well as the between the poor and rich countries of the world where in both cases the
poor tend to deprive the poor by getting all the nice things to themselves making it hard for the
poor to be partakers of the growth and social development being talked about. There are dual gaps
in the world: one is the gap between rich and poor countries in the international society; and the
other is the gap between rich and poor people within a country (Seligson and Passe-Simth, 2003).
Unless these gaps have been eliminated it will be very difficult for democracy to help bring in the
sustainable growth and positive human development.

The other key challenge that democracy is trying to address is the abuse of human rights.
According to Becker and Raveloson (2008) human rights are much more than a mere component
of democracy but they represent sine qua non requirements for the well performing of a democratic
system. Human rights are universal legal guarantees that protect the fundamental freedoms and
human dignity of every individual. The development and evolution of human rights are only
possible when humans live in a democracy, given the fact that it is only within this system that the
population itself can draw up the laws that will rule and publicly control the three powers: the
legislative power (power to propose and vote for laws: in Madagascar, this is the role of the
Parliament), the executive power (power to enforce laws: in Madagascar, this is the role of the
President of the Republic and the Government) and the judiciary power (power to make and to
promulgate laws: in addition to, for example, the High Constitutional Court). Moreover, human
rights are only efficient when the State power is linked to an autonomy and independence right,
and when all the individuals are treated on equal terms in front of this justice. The result will be a
triangular relation between Democracy, Human Rights and Separation of Powers, which thus
represent interdependent elements (ibid).

Further, there is need to foster a strong civic engagement from the current and non-appealing kind
of civic engagement. According to Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (2011) it is not where we vote and
it is not where we buy and sell; it is where we talk with neighbours about the things that concern
our families and wellbeing, how to improve our community school, how our church or mosque
can help widows and orphans in our community, or where we organise a football match for our
youth. When the citizens are engaged in the affairs that affects their life and well-being both
politically and economically will give them the sense and belonging and desire to own the plans
and work towards achieving them.

The other important and challenging part of democracy is governing by the rule of law. A central
element of the rule of law in a democracy is equality before the law. Democracy without the rule
of law is quite literally unthinkable (ibid). Being subjected to the rule of law may sometimes be a
vexation but it is the only sure and certain protection we have against tyranny, demagogues, and
mob rule. The rule of law is the principle that the law should rule in the sense that it establishes a
framework to which all conduct and behaviour conform, applying equally to all the members of
society, be they private citizens or government officials (opcit). It means that no individual,
whether president or private citizen, stands above the law.

According to Heywood (1997) the rule of law is thus a core democratic principle, embodying ideas
like constitutionalism, which is the practice of the rule of law and limited government. The rule of
law protects fundamental political, social, and economic rights and defends the citizen from the
threats of tyranny and lawlessness. Democratic governments exercise authority by way of the law
and are themselves subject to the laws constraints.
The other key challenge that democracy is seeking to address is the deficiency and manipulated
information to the citizen in order to make informed decisions and make their leaders accountable.
According to Neuman (2002) knowledge is power, and transparency is the remedy to the darkness
under which corruption and abuse thrives. Democracy depends on a knowledgeable citizenry
whose access to a broad range of information enables them to participate fully in public life, help
determine priorities for public spending, receive equal access to justice, and hold their public
officials accountable. Neuman (2002) further argued that access to information laws allow
individuals and groups to understand the policies with which the government makes
determinations relating to health, education, housing and infrastructure projects and the factual
basis for such decisions. Armed with such knowledge, citizens around the world are effectuating
change that allows them to improve their living standards and better their lives. Hence, when
citizens have adequate information they will use it to guard the resources as well as the laws of
land against selfish politicians.

Finally, lets also include elections as one of the key challenges that democracy seeks to address
in order to transform the people and the economy of the host nation. Depending on the nature and
how the elections have been carried it can either trigger prosperity in the country or cause disputes
that will end up consuming even the little resources that are available in the country causing the
country to undergo even worse economic and social challenges that would require even more time
to recover. Becker and Raveloson (2008) argues that Elections constitute one of the most important
pillars of democracy.

In general, democracy or democratization could be explained by three primary analytical

approaches. As Rustow summarizes, the first type, proposed by Seymour Lipset, Philips Curtright,
and others, is arguing that the stability of democracy is dependent on certain economic and social
background conditions, such as high GNP or GDP per capita, widespread literacy and high
educational level, and high level of urbanization. The second type of explanation concentrates on
some certain beliefs or psychological attitudes among people. Scholars of political culture, such
as Daniel Lerner, Gabriel Almond, and Sidney Verba, argue that shaping civil culture and
encouraging citizens to participate in public affairs are important for establishing democracy and
civil society. And the third type looks at some characteristic features of social and political
structure. Institutionalists, such as Arend Lijphart, Robert Dahl, and Harry Eckstein, emphasize
the importance of institutional establishment and arrangement in shaping democracy (Rustow,
1970).

Contrary to much recent work, Gerring et.al (2007) argues that there is no strong relationship
between a countrys current regime type and its subsequent human development, as measured by
infant mortality rates. In this respect, Gerring et.al agree with recent critiques of the received view
(Gauri & Khaleghian 2002; McGuire 2004; Ross 2006) which pinpoint that there is no strong
relationship between democracy and human development as purported by other researchers.
However, Gerring et.al (2007) argues that a robust causal relationship does appear if democracy is
considered as a long-run, diachronic phenomenon. Regression tests conducted by Gerring et.al
(2007) showed that a stock measure of democracy is associated with improved human
development. This is a slightly or weak relationship that exists between the two.

However, Gerring et.al (2007) argues that given sufficient time, it is expected that democracies
will provide greater stability and more efficient public policies. Arguably, the problem of overload
arises not from institutional sclerosis (Olson 1982) but rather from insufficient institutionalization
(Huntington 1968). This provides yet another reason to suppose that long-term democracies may
adopt smarter social policies and may implement them with greater vigilance and flexibility. If
democracy survives its often tumultuous youth, indicators of human development should
demonstrate marked improvements even if no immediate improvement was registered in the initial
transition from authoritarian rule. Gerring et.al concluded that democracy is best considered as a
stock, rather than level, concept. Two dimensions of democracy, history and degree, must be
gauged together in order to explain a countrys human development capacity. Other researchers
they argue that the democracy should be the precondition for development and promoting
democracy is the approach strategically to reach prosperity, development, security, and peace
(Siegle et.al, 2004 and 2005)

In summary allow me to quote United Nations General Assembly, Vienna declaration and
Programme of Action of June 1993 which states as I quote. Democracy, development and the
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing.
Democracy is based on the freely expressed will of the people to determine their own potential,
economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives
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