WAS DEMOCRACY JUST A MOMENT?

Context People tend to romanticize the

triumph of idealsChristianity, the Enlightenment, the

Scientific Revolution, Marxism, etc. Yet such perspectives only amount

to determinismi.e. History as unidirectional and linearIndividuals as incapable of shaping

their own destinies

On Democracy It may be wrong to insist that

democracy has proven itself as “the end of history”That other forms of government have

failed say nothing of democracy’s own viability

To insist that democracy has proven itself as the final form of government is itself deterministic

Performance Review Because democracies emphasize

political freedoms, they highlight societal characteristicsParticularly, societies’ weaknesses

If we examine the performance of democracies, we find the record spotty at best

Performance Review What these instances tell us is that

not all countries may be ready for democracy

In short, democracy has certain pre-requisites

In the absence of these prerequisites, democracy will not thrive/function

Prerequisites Functioning bureaucratic/civic

institutionsDemocracy neither forms states nor

strengthens themThus in order for them to ''work" they

must be strong to begin with In the absence of such institutions,

such democracies will remain weak states

Prerequisites Ethnic homogeneity

This is a prerequisite for a working party system

Without ethnic homogeneity, instituting democracy may exacerbate exiting ethnic cleavages

Democracy, in a non-homogenous society, will be rife with factionalism

Prerequisites A large middle class

Democracies can only work after a certain level of economic development

Middle classes bring social stability (Aristotle)

Middle classes are usually created first by authoritarian governments

Democracy presents itself as the step following authoritarianism

Prerequisites

High literacy rate

Sometimes, bloody revolution

The Lesson

“The lesson to learn is not that dictatorship is good and democracy bad, but that

democracy emerges successfully only as a capstone to other social

and economic achievements.”

The Lesson Often, our advocacy of democracy is

based on moral arguments

Moral arguments alone are insufficient: by and large democracy is a matter of practical consequence

How can we argue in favor of democracy if it doesn’t work everywhere?

Therefore… There is great danger transplanting

democracies from one country to the next

Democracies should arise after or as a result of certain socio-economic transformations

In the absence of these pre-requisites, democracy is problematic