Prerequisites for democracy

A wave of reform seems to be sweeping through the Middle East right now. From Tunisia and Libya in North Africa to Yemen and Bahrain in the Arabian Peninsular, citizens are agitating for change. What is interesting is that while in principle, democracy is seen as a good thing by most Western countries, it could very well be that the next elected leader will be a dictator who will overstay his or her welcome again.

For years, the West has attempted to preach the good news of democracy to developing countries by aid, education, diplomacy and/or coercion by force or guile. During the golden age of communism (if there was such a thing), it was common knowledge that capitalist nations waged a war by proxy against the communist bloc by pumping in arms and military training (and vice versa) to various strategic countries (usually where there was oil or other valuable resources) in an attempt to promote their particular political outlook.

What is apparent though is that at least two conditions need to be met before democracy can really take off. Firstly, the majority of the population must truly believe that all people are equal. Democracy cannot work when there is a belief that those of one particular race or religion are superior to those who are not. In many countries, particular sections of society which may be seen as second class citizens because of their sex, race or religion. Unless we are all convinced that all people are truly equal, with equal rights and equal opportunities, democracy cannot work. Secondly, democracy cannot work unless the nation has a strong ethical backbone. It’s sometimes funny (in a sad way) when we read of leaders bribing community leaders (or voters even) to support their leadership despite their total lack of ability or principles.

What many democracy promoters seem to fail to recognise is that most countries where democracy has mostly succeeded are countries which have a strong Christian tradition. This could be because the Bible affirms the equality of all people and the importance of absolutes in ethics (eg. Proverbs 16:19).