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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: LindyBill who wrote (103471)3/6/2005 4:18:46 PM
From: carranza2  Read Replies (2) of 793801
 
Because democracy is unsettling, I think it's going to be a very uncertain time in the ME. Nothing about its present political conditions, except the desire for freedom, readies it for democracy.

I think the demise of Zakaria's views, as he expressed them in The Future of Freedom, has been greatly exaggerated.

Zakaria found that democracies exist in circumstances where citizens have a lot to lose if democracy does not exist, i.e., where incomes are high enough such that a consensus will form that it is the best system to protect their economic future. He found that the minimum income level for these conditions to be in place is about $10k annually. I don't think many of these nascent democracies qualify.

It also requires institutions able to somehow channel and resolve conflict. Very few exist.

Most importantly, it takes time and practice for democracy to take hold.

I love the idea of democracy taking baby steps in the ME but I am realistic enough to feel that, though we should support these steps, the conditions for it to take root simply don't exist or are thin.

Perhaps we are in a new era in which democracy can be facilitated by the Information Age and by the examples of successful democratic polities in other places. Maybe, it's a slim reed,.......I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
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