The Future

I feel the future will spawn many more illiberal democracies. As Fareed Zakaria points out, over half of the world's population lives in a democratic society, and 118 out of 193 possible countries practice democracy. These figures show the majority of the world is shifting towards a democratic mindset. However, I must disagree with the theory proposed in "The End of History" artricle, because the world is still not ready to unite under one government, or one ideal. Dozens of nations rule under the guise of democracy, but still manage to deny their people of basic civil liberties. Therefore, there are currently 118 governments which are similar in name, but not necessarily similar in practice.

We read about foreign countries participating in elections in The New York Times, we watch citizens voting on CNN, and then we naturally assume that these nations are free and democratic. Even the United States' government buys into this method of thinking, and they are more than ready to support any nation that holds elections. But, free elections alone should not define a liberal democracy.

Illiberal democracies are born, because countries don't establish a system to protect their citizens and to manage power. Without checks and balances, even an elected leader can turn into a dictator. (Some "democracies" deny one's right to free speech, and some elect their officials based on religious ties. The latter problem results in a highly biased government which favors select citizens. )

The problem is our definition of democracy is far too loose. Under the current definition a nation can ignore a citizen's basic rights and freedoms, and still be labeled as a democracy. The process goes like this: A country starts holding free elections, the United States is overwhelmingly happy, our government supports the new democratic state, and then we start looking to spread democracy elsewhere. We tolerate many injustices just because a particular country holds elections. Illiberal democracies will just keep popping up and gaining support from our government. These nations will be free to oppress their citizens and grow into larger problems in the future, because they will be disguised as a democracy, and largely left along by Western nations.