Democratisation
Democratisation is the process through which a political system becomes more democratic. It can take place within a single country, across a region or the whole world. Democratisation is a complex and difficult process. It is a journey to be completed by a nation which must pass through many stages, from pro-democratic civil society changes through a variety of procedural democracy mechanisms to a substantive democracy. Each stage is a crucial building block for the next. A successful democratisation has to be seen as an integral part of the country’s social and economic development.
There is little consensus on what democracy means or how it might best be described as an ideal, whether as a political regime, a method of choosing a government, a symbol of legitimacy in the exercise of power or a political culture. Many academics and policymakers also differ as to how a ‘democratic transition’ is best achieved, with the majority of analysts favouring gradual incremental development, as in the example of Great Britain’s change from an absolute monarchy to one of the world’s most enduring democracies. However, even this approach may not be suitable for all societies, particularly in the most economically developed nations where there is a strong tradition of democratic behaviour and where the emergence of a dynamic supportive of less inequality is already taking place.
In the less economically advanced countries, a more revolutionary democratisation process might be needed, as in the case of the American Revolution, the French Revolution or the Russian revolution which ushered in the Soviet Union. There are a number of empirical conditions commonly considered to be essential for democracy and the success of democratisation, such as the existence of a functioning and free press, a political party system and a reasonably high level of literacy and education. Others focus on the need for a viable middle class, a commitment to depoliticization of the military and the need to establish a genuinely democratic culture.
The most fundamental issue is the question of why it is necessary to democratize. Some argue that a people have a natural right to govern themselves, that self-government is a prerequisite for the fulfilment of human rights and that, as all people are equal in this sense, they must be free to govern themselves equally. This argument has been most successfully promoted by the American philosopher John Rawls, who argues that the purpose of democracy is to ‘ensure that as many people as possible get to live lives that have a decent chance of being happy and fulfilling’.
The debate about democratisation is a very important one. It is vital for civil society to become involved in promoting policies in their own countries that will support the democratization of those societies where it is not yet a reality. It is also important for governments in industrialized democracies to promote a ‘democratization agenda’ and to provide funding, technical support and training to help those countries in their struggle towards democracy.
Democratisation is the process through which a political system becomes more democratic. It can take place within a single country, across a region or the whole world. Democratisation is a complex and difficult process. It is a journey to be completed by a nation which must pass through many stages, from pro-democratic civil society changes through a variety of procedural democracy mechanisms to a substantive democracy. Each stage is a crucial building block for the next. A successful democratisation has to be seen as an integral part of the country’s social and economic development. There is little consensus on what democracy means or how it might best be described as an ideal, whether as a political regime, a method of choosing a government, a symbol of legitimacy in the exercise of power or a political culture. Many academics and policymakers also differ as to how a ‘democratic transition’ is best achieved, with the majority of analysts favouring gradual incremental development, as in the example of Great Britain’s change from an absolute monarchy to one of the world’s most enduring democracies. However, even this approach may not be suitable for all societies, particularly in the most economically developed nations where there is a strong tradition of democratic behaviour and where the emergence of a dynamic supportive of less inequality is already taking place. In the less economically advanced countries, a more revolutionary democratisation process might be needed, as in the case of the American Revolution, the French Revolution or the Russian revolution which ushered in the Soviet Union. There are a number of empirical conditions commonly considered to be essential for democracy and the success of democratisation, such as the existence of a functioning and free press, a political party system and a reasonably high level of literacy and education. Others focus on the need for a viable middle class, a commitment to depoliticization of the military and the need to establish a genuinely democratic culture. The most fundamental issue is the question of why it is necessary to democratize. Some argue that a people have a natural right to govern themselves, that self-government is a prerequisite for the fulfilment of human rights and that, as all people are equal in this sense, they must be free to govern themselves equally. This argument has been most successfully promoted by the American philosopher John Rawls, who argues that the purpose of democracy is to ‘ensure that as many people as possible get to live lives that have a decent chance of being happy and fulfilling’. The debate about democratisation is a very important one. It is vital for civil society to become involved in promoting policies in their own countries that will support the democratization of those societies where it is not yet a reality. It is also important for governments in industrialized democracies to promote a ‘democratization agenda’ and to provide funding, technical support and training to help those countries in their struggle towards democracy.