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DemocracyatRisk…
Inadditiontothisliberalmodelofdemocracy,wehavetorecogniseamateri-
altypeofdemocracy.Theliberalmodelguaranteesequalrightswherethelatter
focusonthematerialconditionsforinvokingformalrights.ItwasalreadyJean-
-JacquesRousseauwhoexpandedthisunderstandingofdemocracywithhisno-
tionofoutputlegitimacy,whichrelatesabovealltoequalityofmeansandnotjust
formalrights.Forhim,income,wealthandsocialinequalitiesrepresentnotonly
athreattopeace,butalsotofreedom.Rousseau’smessageofthecontratsocialand
theassociatedslogansoftheFrenchRevolutionseelibertythreatenedbyanimbal-
anceinthedistributionofsocialwealth.
uAsforequality:weshouldtakethistomeannotthatthedegreesofpowerand
richesaretobeabsolutelythesameforeveryone,butthatthosewithpowershould
notsinktothelevelofusingviolence,andthattheirpowerwillalwaysbeexercised
byvirtueofrankandlaw;andthatnocitizenwilleverbewealthyenoughtobuy
another,andnonepoorenoughtobeforcedtosellhimself-whichimplies,onthe
partofthegreat,noextremesofgoodsandcreditandonthesideoftheordinary
folknoextremesofmiserlinessorgreed”(Rousseau1977a:56).
uItisthereforeoneofthemostimportantfunctionsofgovernmenttoprevent
extremeinequalityoffortunes;notbytakingawaywealthfromitspossessors,but
bydeprivingallmenofmeanstoaccumulateit”(Rousseau1977b:32).Theoutput
legitimacyofthismaterialdemocracyhasitscentralfocusthereforeonthede-
greeofequality.Themaingoalistoensureequalopportunitiesandfreedomfrom
hardship.Therealisationisthewelfarestate,whichguaranteesequalopportunity,
justice-especiallyconcerningeducationinameritocraticsociety.Thewelfare
stateshouldberesponsibleforthequalityoflife.Inthecentreofthisunderstand-
ingistheguaranteeofuhumansecurity”
,whichemphasisestheabsenceofextreme
vulnerability,whetherduetosocial,politicaloreconomicmarginalisation.The
conceptofhumansecurityappearedinthecontextofpeaceresearchprojectsin
the1980sasacounterpointtothedominantdiscourseofunationalsecurity”dur-
ingtheColdWar.Thisconceptofhumansecurityhadgainedawideaudienceby
thetimetheUnitedNationsDevelopmentProgramme(UNDP)produceditsHu-
manDevelopmentReport(HDR1994),whichputpovertyandtheneedsofpeople
atthecentreoftheworlddevelopmentagenda.ItalsochimeswiththeProgramme
ofActiononaCultureofPeaceandtheMillenniumDeclarationadoptedbythe
UNGeneralAssemblyin1999and2000,respectively.Fromtheperspectiveof
humansecurity,whatmattersthereforeisensuringsocialpeace.uTheguarantor
ofnationalsecurityisnolongermilitarypower,butfavourablesocial,political
andeconomicconditions,promotionofhumandevelopment,humanrightsand
inclusivepolicies”(UNDPReport2004:141).
Theessentialmessageisthatthewelfareofhumankindistherealmeaningof
democraticdevelopment.TheHDRthereforeseekstopromotepublicpoliciesthat
servethehealth,well-being,freedomanddignityofallpeople.Thispresuppos-
essecurityatdifferentlevelsforallmembersofsociety-freedomfromphysi-
cal,frompoverty,socialexclusionandrepression,securityofeducation,housing,