7 …the requirements for development can be described as an individual’s ability to participate freely in the political process, the mechanisms and capacity to seek economic well-being, the networks and connections which make social integration possible, free access to reliable information sources, and structures which allow personal safety. Gay’s analysis suggests that, in Africa at any rate, the interaction between development and freedom leads to either vicious or virtuous circles, where the relatively better-off citizens push harder for the freedoms that they believe will increase their developmental prospects. But the relation between development and freedom must not be interpreted as one of simple causality. There is a virtuous circle implied by the desire of the better-off respondents for a democratic society. They are well-off, which leads them to want a democratic society. Why is that? Surely the reason they want democracy is because the freedom which they experience in a democratic society gives rise to yet more development by enhancing the very political participation, economic assets, social networks, information access and personal security which make them like democracy in the first place. The opposite of freedom, according to Sen’s theory, is a low level of political activity, poor economic status, limited social interaction, lack of access to information, and personal insecurity. The respondents who fall into these social disabilities are statistically more likely than their better-off counterparts to hold the following views, according to the Afrobarometer survey12. And, as Gay’s analysis of the 1999 Afrobarometer shows, the absence of freedom leads citizens into nondemocratic attitudes where they: · · · · · · · · · · · · Prefer a non-democratic government; Prefer the former, often non-democratic, regime; Look favourably on a military government; Approve a one-party state; Accept strongman presidential rule; Assess their nation as not democratic; Express dissatisfaction with democracy; Be unwilling to defend a threatened democracy; Give poor ratings for the practice of democracy; Disapprove of their leaders’ performance; Distrust public institutions; Believe corruption is common. A better description of current Zimbabwe could perhaps not be found, and, by implication, things should only get worse in this vicious circle in Zimbabwe. However, surveys are only one source of information, albeit a very instructive source. There are many reasons why surveys can be inaccurate, and, without going into the methodology of measurement, it is enough to say that the general conclusions of surveys may not wholly describe a population. For example, in the Afrobarometer 2004 survey on Zimbabwe it is concluded that “fear” is not as important a factor in explaining the apparent increase in the popularity of Robert Mugabe as “propaganda”. However, it is difficult to see that the power of “propaganda” wholly explains the view of two-thirds of the survey sample that party politics lead to social conflict. Certainly the press may convey this view, and the 12 See again Gay, J (2003), Development as freedom: A Virtuous Circle? Afrobarometer Paper No.29. IDASA: Zimbabwe at the Cross-Roads: Views of Zimbabwean citizens on democracy and transitional justice.