To: Road Walker who wrote (181516 ) 1/25/2004 1:26:36 PM From: tejek Respond to Why democracy will fail in Iraq But bringing representative self-government to a place steeped in religious, tribal and ethnic rivalries - a place with no national tradition of political participation or trust toward one's fellow countrymen, and little experience in tolerance toward minorities - is going to be a high-wire act worthy of the Flying Wallendas. Putting aside the troubles L. Paul Bremer III is having with Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sistani on how and when the United States is to transfer sovereignty back to Iraqis, the real question is whether there are any plausible near-term prospects for the creation of a liberal democracy in Iraq. To answer that, one needs to plumb what is required for one. Are democracies created through the top-down development of political structures and institutions? Will an overlay of a constitution, some form of representative legislature and the establishment of elections be enough to turn Iraq into a democracy, or are there intangible barriers that make it ridiculous to think that five and a half months from now Iraq will be a model of self-rule? My money's on ridiculous. Democracy in Iraq isn't a rational goal within two decades, according to Cato Institute senior fellow Patrick Basham. In a policy analysis released earlier this month, Basham argues that it is normative culture and not mechanics such as parties and elections that determine whether democracy will succeed.
