Comments on: Kenyan And Pakistani Democracy: We The People http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/ Politics, Commentary, Culture, Technology. Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:41:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Ruthie http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/#comment-5773 Ruthie Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:50:34 +0000 http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/#comment-5773 "I don’t think that this alone amounts to these countries not being ready for democracy, but it does show that they – or at least the ruling party – do not want it." Nicely put. “I don’t think that this alone amounts to these countries not being ready for democracy, but it does show that they – or at least the ruling party – do not want it.”

Nicely put.

]]> By: thunderdragon http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/#comment-5739 thunderdragon Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:15:29 +0000 http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/#comment-5739 But if they claim to be democratic or to have democracy, they should be judged under that definitions. They claim to have and to want democracy, so we can but use that yardstick against which to measure it! But if they claim to be democratic or to have democracy, they should be judged under that definitions. They claim to have and to want democracy, so we can but use that yardstick against which to measure it!

]]> By: david-keen http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/#comment-5737 david-keen Thu, 03 Jan 2008 20:44:39 +0000 http://www.mattwardman.com/blog/2008/01/03/kenyan-and-pakistani-democracy-we-the-people/#comment-5737 There's another question about whether democracy is an evolutionary result, or a cultural product. Talking about countries being 'ready' for democracy is the language of progress and development, it implies that once a nation has reached a particular point, it will be ready to enter the promised land of one person one vote. Anything short of that is merely a evolutionary stage on the way to the democratic end point. An alternative view is that democracy is a system of government suited to particular cultures. So making countries 'ready' for democracy is actually another way of saying that we want them to adopt Western cultural values, (the West being the heartland for democratic states and democratic philosophy.) It's cultural imperialism by another name. So if a functioning democracy is incompatible with, for example, an African tribal culture, or a patriarchal Islamic society, which set of values backs down first? Or do we start with the culture of a place, find the system of government best suited to that cultural way of operating, and find a way of making it work best? Would benevolent dictatorship, for example, be better than bad democracy? I guess the problem is that every nation is working with a Western definition of statehood too, since we're the ones who drew their borders, back in the colonial era, and didn't stop to think that it might be a bad idea to split the Kurds between 3 nations, or to lump various central African tribal groups in with one another. There’s another question about whether democracy is an evolutionary result, or a cultural product. Talking about countries being ‘ready’ for democracy is the language of progress and development, it implies that once a nation has reached a particular point, it will be ready to enter the promised land of one person one vote. Anything short of that is merely a evolutionary stage on the way to the democratic end point.

An alternative view is that democracy is a system of government suited to particular cultures. So making countries ‘ready’ for democracy is actually another way of saying that we want them to adopt Western cultural values, (the West being the heartland for democratic states and democratic philosophy.) It’s cultural imperialism by another name.

So if a functioning democracy is incompatible with, for example, an African tribal culture, or a patriarchal Islamic society, which set of values backs down first? Or do we start with the culture of a place, find the system of government best suited to that cultural way of operating, and find a way of making it work best? Would benevolent dictatorship, for example, be better than bad democracy?

I guess the problem is that every nation is working with a Western definition of statehood too, since we’re the ones who drew their borders, back in the colonial era, and didn’t stop to think that it might be a bad idea to split the Kurds between 3 nations, or to lump various central African tribal groups in with one another.

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