Forum: Beyond
the Ballot Box
The Economic Obstacles to Democratization
By Joseph Siegle
We live in a historic era of democratic expansion. More than half of the states that were authoritarian twenty-five years ago have since moved toward democracy. Yet, the democratic road is often bumpy. Of the roughly 100 countries that have started down this path since the mid-1970s, nearly half have experienced at least one episode of backsliding. Seventy percent of these cases occurred during a period of economic stagnation.1 This pattern has fueled concerns that democratization in poor countries may be incompatible with economic development. For many, Latin America epitomizes the apparent tradeoff. The well-worn lament is that, although all of Latin America, save Cuba, has moved toward democracy and pursued free-market reforms, living conditions in the region are worse today than they were fifteen years ago. more...
Dominant Parties and Democratic Defects
By Matthijs Bogaards
The democratic tide of the past decades spread great hope in democracy's potential to provide an empowering, yet stable, system of government across the globe. In many countries, democracy's gains remain strong. More often than not, however, newly transitioned states have encountered serious- sometimes fatal-obstacles on the road to liberal government. One such barrier that has hamstrung numerous countries is the emergence of a dominant party. Until recently, there has been little consensus on the exact definition of a dominant party, but broadly, it is a political party that maintains an entrenched hold on a state's governmental system. The classic example is Mexico's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that ruled unchallenged for seven decades until 2000. more...
Africa's Democratic Deficit
By Chris Fomunyoh
After decades of autocratic, personal, and military rule, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the emergence of the third wave of democracy provided new opportunities for the longsuppressed democratic aspirations of Africans to rise to the surface.1 Since then, there have, indeed, been genuine transformations, including the end of apartheid in South Africa and the quelling of violent civil strife in Mozambique, Angola and even Sierra Leone. But overall, democracy's record in contemporary Africa is a mixed bag of accomplishments, challenges, and largely unmet aspirations. Ultimately, the causes of the democratic deficit in Africa are multiple. This paper will explore several, including the role of the predatory state, the extreme personalization of politics, and the overwhelming poverty factor, and suggest further steps that must be taken to foster democracy in the heart of Africa. more...
Pocketbook Politics: Corruption in the West
By Diana Rodriguez
In the United Kingdom, members of parliament earn up to 95 percent of their income from second, third, and fourth jobs and outside interests. In France, the head of state initiated parliamentary proceedings to reaffirm his immunity against prosecution for crimes committed during and prior to his term of office. In Germany, politicians and lobbyists colluded to earn millions of dollars for themselves and their parties in kickbacks by building a garbage incinerator that was massively oversized for the city it was to serve.1 In the United States, the president's father received sizeable fees from a company earning millions of dollars in defense contracts as his son took the country to war. more...
Solving India's Diversity Dilemma: Culture, Constitution, & Nehru
By George C. Thomas
Democracy and multi-ethnic societies do not enjoy a simple relationship. Democracy has the ability to empower minorities and promote equality, but it can just as easily exacerbate divisions. When voting tends to take place along ethnic lines, majority rule can result in the subjugation of the minority voice. Not only does this foster an unequal society, it also has the potential to destabilize the entire state. The cohesion of an ethnic majority may cause other ethnic groups to forge a union-an act of temporary convenience that rarely lasts. In another unfavorable outcome, the losing ethnic group might refuse to accept the entire democratic process, throwing out the baby with the bath-water. These potential "democratic" outcomes would only intensify inter-ethnic conflicts and provoke minority demands for self-determination and territorial secession. History has shown that this initial path often ends with the collapse of the state. more...
Sustaining Democracy's Last Wave
By Kim Campbell and Sean C. Carroll
"Are we next?" Syrian President Bashar Assad asked in February of this year. "The first step was Iraq and soon it will be Iran and Syria." He charges Israel and the White House with being behind the series of "objectives."1 His comments came more as a result of the response to the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, and the ensuing revolt in Lebanon than the events in Iraq. What he has now realized is that the people in the region, rather than the machinations of the Mossad and the White House, are the ones taking their nations toward democracy. The Lebanese are demanding to be citizens of an independent Lebanon, rather than merely inhabitants of an occupied state. A month later Assad answered his own question, promising multi-candidate elections and alternating power.2 Exactly when and how remains to be seen, but Assad's words were deemed unthinkable by many a few months ago. It is not as astonishing or sudden as it would seem. more...