Power of morality

The debate on political systems has been raging for centuries. There are three components of a development paradigm which together can forge a balance between change and stability: state, rule of law and democratic accountability. Only a stable state powered by equality before law and transparent governance can propel equitable progress and prosperity. Nations have pursued variable routes to modernisation. The nations in Sub-Sahara Africa, Latin America and major chunks of Asia have lagged behind for lack of one or more of the three ingredients.
Francis Fukuyama’s Political Order and Political Decay provides a wide variety of options to engineer a forward movement. It is indispensable to factor morality into the picture to make states responsive to public concerns. Democracy per se has failed to deliver without moral underpinnings. Law can be twisted if moral principles are junked in favour of the insatiable capitalist greed. A bird’s eye view of the global development scene will show the importance of morality as the engine of growth with equity. The state can become a Hobbesian Leviathan if it is not rooted in the universal values of universal morality. Our state has to learn this forgotten lesson to come out of the lingering crisis and move into a sustainable zone of peace, progress and humanism.
Ambassador (r) B A Malik
Islamabad