Democracy has consequences.

It’s a political truism that reinforces the idea that how people vote matters. Elect President Bush, you get his policies throughout the executive branch. Likewise, elect a Democrat, and you get Democratic policies and interpretations throughout the executive branch.

But the expression can be modified easily to say: The type of government a country creates has consequences.

Last week, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan criticized the world community – targeting mostly developed countries in Europe and the United States – for what he called a “weak and tardy” response to the earthquake in South Asia that killed more than 87,000 people.

“When the tsunami struck at the 10-day point, we had 80 percent of the money we needed. In the case of Pakistan at the 10-day point, we had 12 percent.”

No people, regardless of their government, deserve the fate of villagers in many remote parts of Pakistan. But the world reacts to what it sees.

Pakistan remains a virtually closed society. The world is not welcome in much of the country.

Its border areas, despite a four-year fight against terrorists, remain a haven for al-Qaida and are controlled by tribal law that neither recognizes the rights of women nor cares about the fate of innocents killed by the terrorists hiding there.

When the tsunami struck Southeast Asia, killing 180,000 people, the world saw the images of destruction firsthand. While many of the areas were closed off by violence or inaccessible to rescue efforts and the media, many others were not.

Living in a closed society has consequences. In Pakistan’s case, some of those consequences mean the world has been slow to react to a largely hidden tragedy.

Developed countries have been slow to react and much more aid is needed as the hardest-hit parts of the country slip into winter’s grip. A better effort is required. But the “tardy” response so far has had as much to do with Pakistan itself as it does with international stinginess.