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Freedom and Our Future
Memorandum for the President
Amartya Sen, February 25, 2000
We must also pay attention to the evidence that democracy and political and civil rights tend
to enhance freedoms of other kinds (such as the freedom to survive and to have economic security)
through giving voice to the deprived and the vulnerable. The fact that no major famine has ever
occurred in a democratic country with regular polls, opposition parties and a relatively free media
(even when the country is very poor and in a seriously adverse food situation) merely illustrates the
most elementary aspect of the protective power of political liberty.5 Though Indian democracy has
many imperfections, nevertheless the political incentives generated by it have been adequate to
eliminate major famines right from the time of independence (the last famine was four years before
that, in 1943), unlike China which did have the largest famine in recorded history in 1959-62, which
caused close to 30 million deaths. Right now, the two countries with the severest famine are also
among the most dictatorial, viz. North Korea and Sudan.
The protective power of democracy in providing security is, in fact, much more extensive
than famine prevention. The poor in booming South Korea or Indonesia may not have given much
thought to democracy when the economic fortunes of all seemed to go up and up together, but when
the economic crises came (and divided they fell), democracy and political and civil rights were
desperately missed by those whose economic means and lives were unusually battered. A decline
of GNP of 5 or 10 per cent is not really a big calamity considered in an aggregative perspective, if
it follows a growth record of 5 to 10 per cent every year for decades. But if that decline is heaped
unequally on the least advantaged sections, they may be in severe jeopardy, requiring social
support. Democracy has become a central issue in South Korea and Indonesia now, as it also has
in other countries, such as Thailand or Malaysia. We should not have to wait for an economic crisis
s I have discussed the connections in Resources, Values and Development (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1984), and also in Development as Freedom (1999).
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"ocrText": "Page 4\nFreedom and Our Future\nMemorandum for the President\nAmartya Sen, February 25, 2000\nWe must also pay attention to the evidence that democracy and political and civil rights tend\nto enhance freedoms of other kinds (such as the freedom to survive and to have economic security)\nthrough giving voice to the deprived and the vulnerable. The fact that no major famine has ever\noccurred in a democratic country with regular polls, opposition parties and a relatively free media\n(even when the country is very poor and in a seriously adverse food situation) merely illustrates the\nmost elementary aspect of the protective power of political liberty.5 Though Indian democracy has\nmany imperfections, nevertheless the political incentives generated by it have been adequate to\neliminate major famines right from the time of independence (the last famine was four years before\nthat, in 1943), unlike China which did have the largest famine in recorded history in 1959-62, which\ncaused close to 30 million deaths. Right now, the two countries with the severest famine are also\namong the most dictatorial, viz. North Korea and Sudan.\nThe protective power of democracy in providing security is, in fact, much more extensive\nthan famine prevention. The poor in booming South Korea or Indonesia may not have given much\nthought to democracy when the economic fortunes of all seemed to go up and up together, but when\nthe economic crises came (and divided they fell), democracy and political and civil rights were\ndesperately missed by those whose economic means and lives were unusually battered. A decline\nof GNP of 5 or 10 per cent is not really a big calamity considered in an aggregative perspective, if\nit follows a growth record of 5 to 10 per cent every year for decades. But if that decline is heaped\nunequally on the least advantaged sections, they may be in severe jeopardy, requiring social\nsupport. Democracy has become a central issue in South Korea and Indonesia now, as it also has\nin other countries, such as Thailand or Malaysia. We should not have to wait for an economic crisis\ns I have discussed the connections in Resources, Values and Development (Cambridge, MA:\nHarvard University Press, 1984), and also in Development as Freedom (1999)."
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