Reviewing the links between styles of political governance, economic strategies and development, this selection of papers by contributors including Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Francis Fukuyama evaluates the extent to which democracy is necessary to the achievement of sustainable development in Asia. The book argues that democracy and markets are complementary and that democracy is intrinsic to development and it contends that liberal and participatory democracy encourages development by providing legitimacy to reform efforts. Movement toward liberal and participatory democracy allows for the convergence of the political and economic institutions of Asia and the West. There is broad agreement that effective and sustainable development is multi-faceted and is not only based on changes in per capita income.

Volume editor: Farrukh Iqbal, Jong-Il You