The Process of Democracy
The spread of democracy from the West since the end of World War II has transformed the international political landscape. It has revived interest in the study of democratisation, the process by which a political regime becomes democratic. While there is much disagreement on the nature of a democracy, most scholars agree that a democratisation process must include civil society participation in decision making, freedom of speech and expression and the rule of law. Moreover, the development of a broad middle class is viewed as essential for democratisation, because it provides incentives for citizens to demand that their elected leaders represent their interests and concerns.
One school of thought on democratisation holds that countries which are more advanced in economic development tend to be more prone to adopting democratic institutions. The wealth of the country, it is argued, generates a well educated and entrepreneurial middle class, who has an interest in demanding more influence over governance issues and the capacity to do so. When this middle class agitates for democratic reforms, it puts so much pressure on the government that even authoritarian rulers eventually must bow to their demands or face revolution and civil disorder.
Another approach to democratisation holds that it is instigated from outside, either by foreign intervention or by the emergence of domestic pressures for change. The example of the American, French and Russian revolutions before the establishment of long lasting democracies bolsters this view. However, such externally instigated democratisation is very difficult and the record of failures of such interventions is generally poor.
A growing number of scholars are rethinking the causes and conditions of democratisation. They are beginning to question whether there is a universal path to democracy. While some countries, such as Great Britain, have evolved a gradual democracy from an absolute monarchy, other countries have become democratic through more dramatic and accelerated processes.
In addition, there is a wide range of theories on what constitutes a democratic culture. While there is no consensus on what exactly this culture entails, most scholars agree that it includes a tolerance of diversity, the belief that others are basically trustworthy and reciprocally interested in each other’s interests, and a desire to live in a democracy. Some have also included a willingness to compromise and the idea that everyone has equal rights.
In many countries that are not yet democratised, the leadership of the ruling elites has found it imperative to adopt the vocabulary of democracy and some of its basic procedures in order to claim that their governing systems are popular and legitimate, representing the will of the people. This bottom up approach to democratisation may prove more successful than the top down approaches favored by some other theories. However, if such a process is not accompanied by societal changes that support it, the outcome can be chaos and violent conflict rather than a stable democracy. It is this possibility which has led some to conclude that a country can never be considered fully democratized unless it is a mature democracy.
The spread of democracy from the West since the end of World War II has transformed the international political landscape. It has revived interest in the study of democratisation, the process by which a political regime becomes democratic. While there is much disagreement on the nature of a democracy, most scholars agree that a democratisation process must include civil society participation in decision making, freedom of speech and expression and the rule of law. Moreover, the development of a broad middle class is viewed as essential for democratisation, because it provides incentives for citizens to demand that their elected leaders represent their interests and concerns. One school of thought on democratisation holds that countries which are more advanced in economic development tend to be more prone to adopting democratic institutions. The wealth of the country, it is argued, generates a well educated and entrepreneurial middle class, who has an interest in demanding more influence over governance issues and the capacity to do so. When this middle class agitates for democratic reforms, it puts so much pressure on the government that even authoritarian rulers eventually must bow to their demands or face revolution and civil disorder. Another approach to democratisation holds that it is instigated from outside, either by foreign intervention or by the emergence of domestic pressures for change. The example of the American, French and Russian revolutions before the establishment of long lasting democracies bolsters this view. However, such externally instigated democratisation is very difficult and the record of failures of such interventions is generally poor. A growing number of scholars are rethinking the causes and conditions of democratisation. They are beginning to question whether there is a universal path to democracy. While some countries, such as Great Britain, have evolved a gradual democracy from an absolute monarchy, other countries have become democratic through more dramatic and accelerated processes. In addition, there is a wide range of theories on what constitutes a democratic culture. While there is no consensus on what exactly this culture entails, most scholars agree that it includes a tolerance of diversity, the belief that others are basically trustworthy and reciprocally interested in each other’s interests, and a desire to live in a democracy. Some have also included a willingness to compromise and the idea that everyone has equal rights. In many countries that are not yet democratised, the leadership of the ruling elites has found it imperative to adopt the vocabulary of democracy and some of its basic procedures in order to claim that their governing systems are popular and legitimate, representing the will of the people. This bottom up approach to democratisation may prove more successful than the top down approaches favored by some other theories. However, if such a process is not accompanied by societal changes that support it, the outcome can be chaos and violent conflict rather than a stable democracy. It is this possibility which has led some to conclude that a country can never be considered fully democratized unless it is a mature democracy.