By Tesfaye
Habisso
The spread of democracy
throughout much of the world has, without doubt, been one of the
most important and dramatic political developments of the late
twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. According to William
A. Joseph, et. al., “at the close of 1981, there were 50
electoral democracies among the world’s 123 independent nations;
by the end of 2001, there were 121 democracies out of 192 nations.
Many of these new democracies are in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America, a fact that has fundamentally transformed politics in the
developing world.”{ Politics of the Developing World, p.3}.
Strengthening this wave of democratization, African, Asian and
Latin American countries have come under pressure since the
crumbling of the socialist camp in 1989-91, both internal and
external, to abandon altogether the long practiced one party
system. The collapse of communist party hegemony in the USSR and
Eastern Europe left them ideologically isolated, although pleas
that liberal democracy is not appropriate to these countries can
still be heard.
The easing of East-West
rivalries also threatened them with economic and financial
isolation. Nearly all African countries, for example, are in grave
financial difficulty. Some have even depended upon foreign aid to
pay the salaries of their employees. Outside support cannot be
suspended overnight, Western capital being already so deeply
involved, but the conditions for its continuation can be, and have
been, altered. African, Asian and Latin American governments are
now expected to liberalize their economies and their political
systems. The response to this demand has varied and cannot be
taken at face value. Understandably, incumbent governments have
shown some reluctance to reform. In many countries there doesn’t
exist a national consensus on a number of basic national issues
amongst the political elites themselves; some are separatists or
racists, others are centralists, still others are federalists,
etc., etc. thus lacking an agreement even on a common citizenship
and a common state, let alone pursuing consensual economic,
foreign, national security and other social policies. Thus, in
many cases, the response is so superficial that it is a
make-believe, a bow towards rather than a genuine embrace of
democracy, liberal or not. Even if opposition parties are given a
chance, including sufficient funding, free political space and
mass media usage, to compete, elections may simply confirm the
dominance of an incumbent party, which, in most cases, happens to
be a liberation front turned to a dominant party with its own
army, security and other instruments of controlling political
power. Today, democracy is the only form of government that can
guarantee peace and stability throughout the world and that can
insure political accountability, freedom and equality, justice and
development for all peoples and countries. African, Asian and
Latin American regimes cannot, and should not, hinder the
inevitable democratic progress and the acceleration of fast
socio-economic development for their nations. Many scholars and
social thinkers contend that if democracy is to become not only
our form of government to cure the many ills afflicting our
societies but also our way of life the following essential
prerequisites must exist in the political system:1.Political
Accountability. There must be formal procedures by which those who
hold political power are chosen and held accountable to the people
of the country. The key mechanism for such accountability is
regular, free, fair and credible elections in which all citizens
are eligible to cast ballots to elect candidates for office.
2. Political Competition. Political parties must be free to
organize, present candidates for office, express their ideas, and
compete in fair elections. The winning party must be allowed to
take office, and the losing party must relinquish power through
legal and peaceful means.
3. Political Freedom. All citizens must possess political
rights and civil liberties. These include the right to participate
in the political process, free of government reprisals; freedom of
assembly, organization, and political expression (including the
right to criticize the government); equality before the law; and
protection against arbitrary state intrusion into citizens’
private lives. A judiciary not subject to direct political control
is a common institutional means for safeguarding these fundamental
freedoms.
4. Political Equality. All citizens must be legally entitled to
participate in politics (by voting, running for office, and
joining an interest group or party), and their votes must never be
manipulated and must have equal weight in the political process.
Men and women of political, ethnic, religious, or other minority
groups must have equal rights as citizens.
By these measures, African, Asian and Latin American countries
on their way to ‘transiting’ from one-party authoritarian
systems to functioning democracies can speed up the process of
genuinely embracing and strengthening the idea and practice of
democracy. In democracy lies the sole hope of insuring a modicum
of safety, security, dignity and freedom for all humanity
