Most champions of democracy have been rather reticent in suggesting that democracy would itself promote development and enhancement of social welfare-they have tended to see them as good but distinctly separate and largely independent goals. The detractor of democracy, on the other hand, seemed to have been willing to express their diagnosis of what they see as serious tensions between democracy and development.

To deal with these issues, we have to pay particular attention to both the contents of what can be called development and to the interpretation of democracy. The assessment of development cannot be divorced from the lives that people can lead and the real freedom that they enjoy. Development can scarcely be seen merely in terms of enhancement of inanimate objects of convenience. Their value must depend on what they do to the lives and freedom of the people involved.

The relation between development and democracy has to be seen partly in term of their constitutive connection. We must not miss the crucial recognition that political liberties and democratic rights are among the 'constitutive components of development'.