The long road to democracy<\/p>\n
By Terry Russell<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In Indonesia, as in my own country, Australia,
\nwe cannot question democracy. We have all been told that
\ndemocracy slayed communism in 1989 and that nowadays only
\nfascists and fundamentalists question democracy.<\/p>\n
Western governments are now pushing harder for
\ndemocratization, abandoning dictators like Saddam Hussein,
\nSoeharto, Pinochet and Mobutu, whom they supported during the
\nCold War. In the spirit of democratic debate, it is time to open
\nour eyes and question whether western democracy is suitable for
\ndeveloping countries like Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Let us define democracy as the right of citizens to speak
\nfreely and to vote in free elections. We will then ask whether
\ndemocracy has worked in developing countries, and whether it is a
\nsystem which developing countries can suddenly leap into or a
\nsystem which must be built up over many years?<\/p>\n
Has democracy worked in developing countries? India and the
\nPhilippines have had democratic elections and freedom of speech
\nfor many years. Indeed, excepting the occasional assassination of
\nrivals and ongoing struggles with separatists who do not feel
\nwell served by their elected governments, these countries have
\nhad relatively peaceful democracies.<\/p>\n
But this peace and freedom has not led to economic prosperity
\nfor the general population, so can we really call them successful
\ndemocracies?<\/p>\n
Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea now have prosperity
\nand some sense of democracy. South Korea even jailed one of its
\nformer dictators.<\/p>\n
Their prosperity was, however, established under
\nsemiauthoritarian governments and supported by United States
\nsubsidies and military protection during the Cold War.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, Brazil, Poland, Argentina, China, Thailand and Chile
\nhave made recent economic gains without great concessions to
\ndemocracy. The latter four indulged in massacres of their own
\npeople in the 1970s and 1980s. It will be interesting to observe
\nwhether they choose the western prescription of immediate
\ndemocracy to complete the transition to prosperity. If so, will
\nthis prescription work?<\/p>\n
And what about countries less developed than the above seven.
\nCan they make a sudden leap to successful democracy? Elections in
\nNicaragua in 1984, in Burma, now Myanmar, in 1988, and in
\nCambodia and Algeria in the 1990s, were deemed to have been
\nreasonably fair. Unfortunately the results were promptly ignored
\nby the losers, plunging these countries into war and vicious
\nclampdowns. This would suggest that these countries were not
\nready for democracy.<\/p>\n
The above survey suggests that countries are more likely to be
\nprosperous and to enjoy lasting democracy if they first pass
\nthrough a phase of semiauthoritarianism. If the government during
\nthis phase is sensitive and farsighted rather than corrupt, the
\ncountry may, like Singapore and Japan, move peacefully to
\ndemocracy and consolidate its prosperity.<\/p>\n
This suggests that we need to stop looking at governments as
\neither democratic or undemocratic. Let us accept that there are
\nstages of democracy. Let us accept that a developing country may
\nbenefit from minimizing freedom of speech, hopefully for only a
\nshort period, allowing it to focus on socioeconomic issues rather
\nthan internal political ones.<\/p>\n
Here then are the five stages of democracy. Indonesia has just
\nmoved to the third stage. Its media censorship is at stage three,
\nbut may regress to stage two when its elites reunite. If we look
\nat the above examples of successful democracies, Indonesia now
\nneeds to develop a more independent judicial system and possibly
\na wealthier, more educated public, before it can progress
\npeacefully to the fourth stage. The final utopian stage is
\nincluded to remind westerners that their own governments are
\nindeed still on the same journey as all other governments toward
\nfull democracy.<\/p>\n
1. Authoritarianism: Ruling elites are immune to prosecution.
\nNo criticism is allowed.<\/p>\n
2. Semiauthoritarianism: Ruling elites are immune to prosecution.
\nCriticism is allowed, provided it is directed against ministries
\nor is only minor personal criticism. Demonstrations are allowed
\nin areas approved by the police.<\/p>\n
This stage provides feedback to governments, allows people to
\nlet off steam nonviolently and develop their skills in debating
\nrationally without feeling or inciting hatred.<\/p>\n
Elections provide an opportunity for limited debate but are
\nengineered to ensure the ruling party always wins.<\/p>\n
3. Hijacked Democracy: Ruling elites may be prosecuted but not
\nsuccessfully. Any criticism is allowed, but harsh personal
\ncriticism will be directly censored by the government regulated
\nmass media. Demonstrations may be held anywhere. Elections are
\nfree but influenced by vote-buying, intimidation, missing ballot
\nboxes and the above censorship of the mass media.<\/p>\n
4. Western Democracy: Rule is by law, with no military, financial
\nor political elites immune from prosecution. Criticism is allowed
\nand publicized without direct censorship of the mass media by the
\nruling elite. However, informal censorship still exists due to
\nmass media owners' choices of moderately pro-elite editors,
\neditors' fears of a backlash from wealthy advertisers and
\nreporters' frequent reliance on government sources of
\ninformation.<\/p>\n
Elections are free, but campaigns focus on personalities and
\none or two oversimplified issues.<\/p>\n
5. Full Democracy: Criticism is allowed and publicized without
\ndirect or indirect censorship. This stage of democracy can only
\narrive when everybody makes daily use of the internet or other
\nmass media which are not dependent on advertisers, and when all
\ngovernment sources of information are truly free of elite
\ninterference.<\/p>\n
Communications technology makes it cheap and efficient to hold
\nfrequent referendums, with voting for particular policies as well
\nas traditional elections. Greater voter education leads parties
\nto focus their election campaigns on a wide-range of issues.<\/p>\n
The writer is an English language instructor with a B.A.
\n(Hons) in world history.<\/p>",
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