Democracy and Famine [Hardcover]

Famine is the most extreme manifestation of the existence of poverty, inequality and political apathy. Whereas poverty, hunger and diseases are not easily eradicated in the world today, famines are often perceived to be relatively simple to avert. However, the political incentives to prevent famines are not always present.

Inspired by the work of Amartya Sen, whose influential hypothesis that democratic institutions together with a free press provide effective protection from famine, Democracy and Famineis a study combining qualitative and quantitative evidence, analysing the effect of democracy on famine prevention. The books overall framework moves from placing political systems at the heart of famine protection to look at the political processes involved.

Using a case study based approach drawing on famines from India, Malawi and Niger; Democracy and Faminewill be of interest to scholars and students of democracy, comparative politics and international relations.

 

1. Introduction  2. Presentation of Sens Theory of Democracy and Famine  3. Conceptualization and Operationalisation of Democracy  4. Discussion of Sens Understanding of Democracy  5. Famines in Bangladesh, Sudan and India  6. The Malawi Famine of 2002  7. The Niger Famine of 2005  8. Democracy and Famine  Quantitative Evidence  9. Multiple Starvation Deaths in India  10. Discussion of Other Macro-Level Causal Approaches  11. Counterproductive Democratic Mechanisms  12. Conclusion

Olivier Rubin is an assistant Professor at Global Studies, Roskilde University.