Term Paper on "Democracy We Live in a World"

Term Paper 7 pages (2576 words) Sources: 1+ Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Democracy

We live in a world that is constantly changing in a process of development and evolution that affects all walks of life and all regions of the world. In the context of the political scene in today's globalised world, the issue of democracy and the notions defined by this term has become one of the most stringent subjects for discussion in the world political forums. In the beginning of the 1990s Francis Fukuyama's proclamation of the end of history and the reconsideration of world politics on the basis of democratic rule was of resounding impact (Nye, 2005). However, it was afterwards considered to be a hasty determination of the evolution of world politics in the decades following the end of the Cold War. Although the author pointed out the victory of democracy in the world and the defeat of the totalitarian rule and dictatorial regimes, the terms used to suggest such an idea demanded more insight and definition.

Taking into account this perspective, the question thus arises: can we consider democracy to actually be the end of history and of the evolution of state rule? Is democracy the best and only means available to politicians and heads of state to use in order to manage the future of their countries and to drive forward the evolutionary process which is destined to peoples? If so, what role should be attributed to those states in which the traditional notion of democracy cannot be applied? Are they against the general trend of the evolution process? Can they be brought on the right path and can democracy actually be imposed to regimes such as the ones existing in Rwanda, Sudan, and other failed states? These are all questions which demand a response not necessarily from a theoretical point-of-view, but rather from the perspective offered by the practical examples such states generously offer the international community to consider.

In order to try to have a clear view on possible answers to such questions, it is important to first consider the actual meaning of democracy as pointed out by the political entities making up the civilized world. Traditionally speaking the term of democracy is of western descent. The British consideration of the notion is based on 19th century visions over the share of political power among the institutions of the state (Dunleavy and O'Leary, 1987). The monarchic rule considered to be authoritarian in its relationship with its subjects was deemed a limited power in relation to the institutions it created along the history of the state.

The American view of democracy however was the one that would eventually prevail and would stand at the basis of the democratic system as it is today. The American Revolution, one of the few internal struggles of the young nation targeted precisely this establishment of the British democratic system. Its aim was to create a state power that would include the entire array of political and democratic forces that made up the society. In this sense, the term of good governance and power of the people became intrinsic values of the system the U.S. tried to promote in the centuries following its constitution. At this moment in or history, these are the pillars of the notion of democracy as promoted throughout the world. They represent the emanation of a historical tradition of social responsibility, political accountability, and most importantly, respect for human and civil rights.

In the framework provided by these ideas, the situation existing in states such as Iraq, Somalia, African nations appears to have an immense gap to fill. According to the standards imposed by political superiors such as the U.S. Or the European Union, countries of the Middle East of from the African continent are light years away from achieving a democratic considering of the political life. However, at the same time, "every country is undemocratic in its own way" (Ottaway et al., 2005); therefore a good place to start any analysis would be to limit the comparison between democratic and undemocratic countries to elements which could be defined in broader terms rather than particularities of the system set as reference point.

From the perspective offered by the historical background of nation states, of war torn countries, it can be said that the idea of democracy as promoted by the United States is rather hard to achieve. It is not necessarily a matter of a lack of options for implementation, but rather a misinterpretation of the particular elements which define each nation as an individual actor on the international scene. The issue of applying democracy in failed states or in forth world countries is relevant to point out this argument.

First and foremost, a democratic system implies, according to western precepts, a stable political environment based on the rule of law and the respect for human integrity and civil rights. Although it appears to be the perfect definition and description of an ideal state of affairs, this is rather hard to achieve in any country, let alone one that has gone through consecutive violent tragedies as it is the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo for instance in 1992. In this particular case, "the collapse of central state authority" represented a crucial element in the destabilization of the country and of any democratic initiative it may have had (Goldstone and Ulfelder, 2004). From this point-of-view, it is impossible to consider the establishment of a stable rule of law, as the primary condition for a truly democratic system in the conditions in which there are no possible pillars to support a political and administrative system of any kind.

A similar example is the situation in Iraq which can be used to portrait this state of affairs. Following the end of the war against the authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein, there was a certain power vacuum the beginners of the attack fail to consider to its true size and magnitude. In the aftermath of the war, a great number of vices spoke against the rightfulness of the international intervention in Iraq, not so much from the perspective of the initial stated goal subscribed to the war against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, but rather from the perspective offered by the eventuality of an actual stable regime in Bagdad. In this sense, "there is a civil war in progress in Iraq, one comparable in important respects to other civil wars that have occurred in postcolonial states with weak political institutions. Those cases suggest that the Bush administration's political objective in Iraq -- creating a stable, peaceful, somewhat democratic regime that can survive the departure of U.S. troops -- is unrealistic" (Fearon, 2007). This incompatibility of aims and outcomes results from the inability to adapt the notion of democracy as understood by western powers to the actual specificities of the region and of the country at hand.

Yet another important aspect in exporting democracy around the world in failed states is the issue of nation building. In war torn countries or in regions that have been constantly subjected to economic degradation, isolation from all international trade routes and of the benefic effects of a global market, the existence of a demos, of a community based on common cultural, spiritual, economic, and social values is essential. Such a reality would offer a stable popular background and basis for any attempt to consider a future democratic system of rule. However, historical experiences have proven that building the nation and rebuilding the national identity of a country is often disregarded. For instance, the most recent case of the Iraqi nation is relevant in this sense. The lack of a security environment but most importantly the existence of an internal security threat created by the tensions between various forces inside the Iraqi society largely contributed to the perpetuation of a continuous state of war. In such conditions, the democratization attempts, feeble as they were, were destined to fail. A better approach should have taken into account the creation of a safe environment not necessarily for the political rule, but for the people in the first instance. Thus, "the coalition should have deployed vastly more military police and other troops trained for urban patrols, crowd control, civil reconstruction, and peace maintenance and enforcement. Tens of thousands of soldiers with sophisticated monitoring equipment should have been posted along the borders with Syria and Iran to intercept the flows of foreign terrorists, Iranian intelligence agents, money, and weapons" (Diamond, 2004).

The case of Somalia's attempt to implement democracy is also worthy of consideration. After the war, there was no clear direction of action that would have supported any strive for democracy. There lacked a visionary approach of the situation and the U.S. led initiative eventually failed. "The United States and the United Nations stumbled into Somalia without a plan. As a result, what began as a humanitarian mission (...) became a misguided attempt at ad hoc nation building (...) the United States extricated itself from that quagmire by leaving Somalia to its fate in 1994,… READ MORE

How to Reference "Democracy We Live in a World" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Nationalism We Live in a World Thesis

Nationalism

We live in a world that is constantly searching for its identity, one which is made up of state actors, non-state actors, organizations, corporations and leaders. They all have… read more

Thesis 14 pages (4601 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA Topic: World History

---

Civilization We Live in Is the Result Term Paper

civilization we live in is the result of the constant evolution of the human kind. It represents a process of evolution and change of the human being, of its environment,… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (3423 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA Topic: Evolution / Creationism

---

Dynamics of Society Term Paper

Society

We live in a world which is inextricably changing, which faces constant new challenges and must adapt to an ever evolving environment. As history goes by, our society must… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (730 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Sociology / Society

---

World History Development of Civilization Term Paper

Twentieth Century History

Need opening and over all summary of this Era of conflict:

In order to understand how the world of 2005 came about, it is necessary to consider… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2595 words) Sources: 0 Topic: World History

---

Cold War and Its Aftermath Term Paper

Cold War and its Aftermath

The Cold War represented one of the most important periods in the history of the world. It did not only changed the way in which… read more

Term Paper 9 pages (3171 words) Sources: 4 Topic: World History

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>