ESSAY CONTEST WINNER—HIGH SCHOOL
ECONOMIC FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY: ARE WE FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THINGS? SHAAKIRA GADIWAN
What causes one democracy to flourish and the other to deteriorate? One answer lies in the economic growth that stems from economic freedom; democracies that arise without prior economic growth tend not to survive. Research suggests a positive relationship between economic freedom and economic growth, and between growth and political freedom (Vega-Gordillo, 2003). Moreover, as Milton Friedman observed, there has been no society that offered substantial political freedom without also offering considerable economic freedom (Landsburg, 2019: p. 35). What remains to be understood is the mechanism by which attaining economic freedom paves the road for democracy. With the number of countries pursuing democracy today, it is imperative to stress the importance of economic freedom as a key determinant of what democracies consist of: civil freedom and political freedom. By identifying a dynamic by which democracy arises and developing insights into how economic freedom affects that dynamic, policymakers can make better economic decisions to reach their goals. Defining economic freedom and democracy Economic freedom is the minimization of government influence over private economic activity and is protected by the rule of law, a counterpart to democracy. Democracy, meanwhile, is a contributor to both civil and political freedom. In The Logic of Social Systems, Alfred Kuhn defines democracy as a cooperative institution, meaning that all citizens are both sponsors and recipients of government actions (Phillips and Kuhn, 1976: 734). Political rights are the freedom of citizens to exercise their “sponsor function,” i.e., dismissing and electing government. Civil freedom limits the elected government from
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interfering with the citizens’ sponsor roles, ensuring the right of citizens to political freedom. Civil freedom also protects citizens’ recipient roles. These include freedom of speech and freedom of the press, both of which are necessary for the development and propagation of innovative ideas. In fact, political rights without such civil freedoms would be meaningless. Uncensored media is essential if individuals are to have access to a wide range of information about potential leaders; only then is political freedom fully realized. A democratic institution enforces these civil rights, which in turn legitimizes political rights. Balance of power According to Seymour Lipset (1959), the basic conditions for a democracy to develop are a steady increase in the overall wealth of a society and a high educational standard. Lipset includes increased wealth because it is crucial to balancing power in a society. Democratic participation, that is, an equal voice for everyone, will develop and be sustained only if the influence of economically dominant groups is offset by the organizational power of the lower and middle classes, which arises due to capitalist developments like factory production, urbanization, and new forms of communication. A larger middle class makes it more difficult to exclude them politically (Lipset, 1959). Several authors, including Lipset (1959), Barro (1999), Przeworski and Limongi (1997), and Fukuyama (2004) argue that countries with a higher GDP per capita are more likely to be democratic than dictatorial. As a society’s overall income increases, so does social cohesion, leaving fewer people feeling marginalized and thus increasing everyone’s motivation to
