CAT IS ALL ABOUT READING COMPREHENSION (RC)
ONE RC A DAY (13 Mar)
Passage-1
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 detractors of democracy, on the other hand, seemed to have been quite willing to express their diagnosis of what they see as serious tensions between democracy and development. The theorists of the practical split –"Make up your mind: do you want democracy, or instead, do you want development?”—often came, at least to start with, from East Asian countries, and their voice grew in influence as several of these countries were immensely successful—through the 1970s and 1980s and even later—in promoting economic growth without pursuing democracy. The observation of a handful of such examples led rapidly to something of a general theory: democracies do quite badly in facilitating development, compared with what authoritarian regimes can achieve.
To deal with these issues we have to pay particular attention to both the content of what can be called development and to the interpretation of democracy (in particular to the respective roles of voting and of public reasoning). 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, such as a rise in the GDP (or in personal incomes, or industrialization—important as they may be as means to the real ends). Their value must depend on what they do to the lives and freedom of the people involved, which must be central to the idea of development.
If development is understood in a broader way, with a focus on human lives, then it becomes immediately clear that the relation between development and democracy has to be seen partly in terms of their constitutive connection, rather than only through their external links. Even though the question has often been asked whether political freedom is "conducive to development", we must not miss the crucial recognition that political liberties and democratic rights are among the "constituent component" of development. Their relevance for development does not have to be established indirectly through their contribution to the growth of GDP.
However, after acknowledging this central connection, we also have to subject democracy to consequential analysis, since there are other kinds of freedom as well (other than political liberties and civil rights) to which attention must be paid. We must be concerned, for example, with economic poverty. We do, therefore, have reason to be interested in economic growth, even in the rather limited terms of growth of GDP per head, since raising real income can clear the way to some really important achievements; for example, the general connection between economic growth and poverty removal is by now reasonably well established, supplemented by distributional concerns. Aside from generating income for many people, a process of economic growth also tends to expand the size of public revenue, which can be used for social purposes, such as schooling, medical services and healthcare, and other facilities that directly enhance the lives and capabilities of people. Indeed, sometimes the expansion of public revenue as a result of fast economic growth is much faster than the economic growth itself. Public revenue creates an opportunity that the government can seize to make the process of economic expansion more equitably shared. [Book: The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen]
1. In which ways does economic growth help with “distributional concerns” (Last Paragraph), EXCEPT?
1. By making the government richer, which can then spend more on social sector development.
2. By supporting political liberties and democratic rights.
3. By involving more people in economic activities and generating more income for them.
4. By getting more people out of poverty.
2. According to the author, which are the essential features of development, EXCEPT?
1. Political liberties and democratic rights.
2. Enhancement of social welfare.
3. Enhancement of inanimate objects of convenience.
4. Freedom from economic poverty.
3. Which one of the following is asserted about democracy and development by the author?
1. Democracies do quite badly in facilitating development, compared with what authoritarian regimes can achieve.
2. Development is inextricably linked with political liberties and democratic rights.
3. Democracy and development are distinctly separate and largely independent goals.
4. Democracy and development are mutually exclusive.
4. It can be inferred from “... a rise in the GDP (or in personal incomes, or industrialization—important as they may be as means to the real ends)” (Second Paragraph) that:
1. Industrialization is the means and a rise in the GDP is the end.
2. Economic growth per se is the real goal of democracy.
3. By freeing people from poverty, economic growth can help improve the lives that people lead and the real freedom that they enjoy.
4. Economic growth without freedom is meaningless.
5. Which of the following can be said regarding the detractors of democracy, EXCEPT?
1. They are reluctant to suggest that democracy itself promotes development.
2. They believe that serious tensions exist between democracy and development.
3. They would like people to make a choice between democracy and development.
4. They cite the examples of East Asian economies in support of their position.
6. What can be inferred from the statement "Their relevance for development does not have to be established indirectly through their contribution to the growth of GDP" (Third Paragraph)?
1. Democratic rights may indirectly contribute to economic growth.
2. Development need not be established as a contributory factor in growth of GDP.
3. That political liberties contribute to economic growth is an irrelevant question.
4. GDP growth eventually leads to democratic rights and political liberties.