Has there ever been a famine in a functioning democracy?

Post date: 2022-06-23 08:17:17

In Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen claimed that "no famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy". What do historians, social scientists, and others make of this claim? Was he right? Are there counterexamples? Has anything changed since the book was published in 2000?

I'd like to find a scholarly evaluation of Sen's claim. Recent articles are preferred to older ones; thorough discussions are better than brief ones.

I realise that both "democracy" and "famine" are vague and contested terms!

(I'm slightly embarrassed that I've been unable to find the answer to this question through Google or Google Scholar. It's not my field, and it's hard to find discussion of this claim in particular amid the vast literature ... )

Thanks in advance.

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