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the relevant decades. a functioning democratic system that would have allowed such demands
to come from outside the government. The unchallenged power of governance was easily
translated into an unquestioned acceptance of the lack of accountability and openness. often
beinforced by strong family links between the government and the financial bosses. In the
emergence of the economic crises. the undemocratic nature of the governments played an

important part. These issues have to be faced by all countries. no matter how successful their
past record may be. and no matter how long the needed scrutiny is postponed (as it clearly has
been in some countries in the region).

The Form and Practice of Democracy
The point is often made that it is not adequate to have the "form" of democracyit
must also work well. This is certainly so. but sometimes criticism of the imperfection of

democratic practice is used as an excuse to undermine the very structure of democratic form
of government. We have to be careful that the "best" is not used as an enemy of the "good."
Authoritarian leaders who seize power often skilfully use criticism of the imperfection of
democracy to overthrow a democratic constitution and institute instead a basically non demo-
cratic political arrangement. For example. military coups in Pakistan have often been followed
by the claims of the junta in office that they are establishing. in place of a "non functioning"
democracy a "more efficient" political system (called. in one case. "basic democracy" though
the military led constitution involved very little of democracy of any kind whatsoever). Critics
of democracy wanting more "practice" of democracy have to be careful that they do not end

up making the ground ready for the overthrow of democracy altogether. The tendency to
throw the baby out with the bath wate is painfully common in political debates surrounding
the use of democracy in developing countries.
It may. of course. take some time for the practice of democracy to achieve all the
virtues that we may demand of democratic system. I have had the occasion to grumble in the
past that Indian democracy even though more than half a century old by now has been quite

slow to give voice to the more complex deprivations. such as endemic undernourishment.
neglect of school education. or the unequal treatment of women. Any democracy works very
well in dialing with the more obvious catastrophes. such as famines or fisasters. But opposition
parties have often been far too docile to give the governments in office trouble well deseved
trouble for the neglect of literacy. or gender equity. or maternal or child nourishment. And yet
it is possible to work hard to make democracy respond to less extreme deprivations as well-
what is sometimes disparagingly called "the form of democracy" does. in fact. create the
opportunity for just that. Much depends on the initiatives of political parties. the newspapers
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and other participants in public discourse and political confrontation. Indeed. it is interesting

!lOn this see my joint book with Jean Dreze. Hunger and Public Action (Oxford : Qarendon Press, 1989). See
also our edited book. The Political Economy of Hung~ (Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1990), especially the papers of N. Ram and
Rehman Sobhan.