The Challenge to the Internationalization of Democracy

Democracy in developing countries in South				selfish motives.
America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Eastern				Every indication points to the fact the citizens of
Europe has not been successful, not because				these developing democracies have the willingness
these countries do not have competent				to strive beyond their cultural limits, but this is
authorities to govern them, but largely as a result				made impossible by those who feel their positions
of the way these countries came into existence.				will be threatened should the people begin to
Unlike western democracies which were formed				overlook their cultural boundaries. Democracy has
by an amalgamation of states, most nations with				come to mean a mechanism that makes you lose
young democracies were formed basically from				your position and gives your opponent the
the splitting of entire regions. The implication here				opportunity to triumph over you.
is that a nation formed from a conglomeration of				In addition, contrarily to encouraging democracy,
states will have to negotiate extensively and				the advent of multipartism instead helped
make compromises to ensure the survival of its				enforced the divisions and differences left behind
unity. Synthesis is a constructive process, but				from colonial rule. The lack of adequate
most if not all undemocratic countries came into				democratic institutions aggravated disunity. For
existence through the destructive process of				selfish reasons and the pretense to avoid a
divide and rule. To the dismay of many, the				complete collapse of law and order, most of
fragmentation into factional ideologies has evolved				these countries came to be governed under
into a paradigm for governance in many of these				completely totalitarian regimes.
very young democracies.				In these nations where the entire population
The governing structures that were left behind				seems to work for a few so called elites,
particularly after colonization had very little				remunerations to the masses are not seen as
semblance of democracy. They were created				adequate payments acknowledging the hard work
basically to ensure and sustain a central				the people offer, but as charity and a reward for
government that had a favorable opinion on trade				loyalty. The execution of public contracts paid for
and which usually secured the former colonial				by taxes from the population is considered a gift
master as the main beneficiary. Though trade				and donated to regions exhibiting the most loyalty
relations are not necessarily retrogressive on				and submissiveness to the regimes.
development, these central governments were				The leaders in South America, Asia and Africa
endowed with great powers and dominance giving				have used over and over and with deadly effect
room for the abuse of power that haunts them				the colonial system of divide and rule. Just like the
till date.				colonial system, the existing power structures are
Democracy came to mean a bunch of elites				desperately made to consolidate a stay in power
taking the whole governmental system hostage				than make life better for the citizens.
and making sure one of their kin and kind gets to				Divide and rule has given rise to political animosity
make the rules with absolute power. These				and tribal hatred. In the Middle East, South
central governments got so powerful that they				America Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa divide
every policy enacted became a recipe for				and rule was used to create submission, ensure
corruption and subsequent military coups.				the exploitation of natural resources and in some
The problem has never been a lack of national				cases expel communism. Divide and rule is what
good will or the unavailability of experts.				these regions have learned for decades and a
Regrettably, their intellectuals and experts have				sudden change into a new era of democracy just
been relegated from active participation in the				can not come overnight.
democratic process as policy debates rarely				The mere fact that in some of these countries
feature in academic arenas. Industrious minds				different tribes live together, share similar social
have been hijacked by the political system and				amenities and do not engage in endless conflicts is
are forced to comply with clumsy institutions.				reason enough that the prospect of rapid
Although cultural differences might have had				advancement of democracy in not so democratic
some effect in stalling democracy in some of				countries is not a delusional concept.
these countries, culture is so insignificant a factor				There is no greater hope than that these
to have caused such drastic failures witnessed				countries quickly adapt to the changing times.
around the world. The diversity in culture which is				Though some of these nations often refer to
a natural democratic foundation is hardly used to				colonial rule with disgust, they have recurrently
promote democracy. Cultural differences are				made the colonial rule of divide and rule a model
exploited and manipulated by a few individuals for				for governance.