The second way democracy helps the people in developing societies is by giving them the means to influence the actions of their respective governments in countering the effects of economic and social disasters. Here we are especially indebted to the work of Amartya Sen, who has shown that "in the terrible history of famines in the world, no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent a democratic country with a relatively free press." Precisely because famine or other kinds of disasters would be fatal to the citizens, not taking protective measures would be fatal to any government in a situation where the people are in a position to register their views.