2 - American Democracy in Relation to Asia

Summary

I was asked “to provide an overview of the American democratic experience high-lighting the unique set of motivations and circumstances fueling democratization in the United States, and secondly, emphasizing the distinctive aspects of the process which are in contrast to the Asian experience”. That is rather a tall order. I shall attempt, nevertheless, to supply at least some basis for the discussion of these issues by setting forth five propositions dealing with: (1) the nature of democracy in general; (2) the development of democracy in the West; (3) the nature of American democracy; (4) the prospects for Asian democracy; and (5) the possible nature of Asian democracy.

The Nature of Democracy

First, what do we mean by democracy? To compare American, Asian, or other varieties of democracy it is first necessary to define the genus of which these are species. What is the essence of all democratic regimes that distinguishes them from non-democratic systems? Fundamentally democracy is a means of constituting authority in which the ruled choose the rulers. In other types of political systems, people may become rulers by virtue of birth, appointment, lot, examination, wealth, or coercion. In democracies, in contrast, either the rulers and ruled are identical, as in direct democracy, or rulers are selected by vote of the ruled. A modern nation-state has a democratic political system to the extent that its most powerful decision-makers are selected through fair, honest, periodic elections in which candidates freely compete for votes and in which virtually all the adult population is eligible to vote. This procedural definition of democracy differs from definitions of democracy by purpose or by source of authority. It received its most significant modern exposition in Schumpeter's Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy and is now almost universally accepted by scholars working on this subject. According to this definition, elections are the essence of democracy. From this follow other features characteristic of democratic systems. Free, fair, and competitive elections are only possible if there is some measure of freedom of speech, assembly, and press, and if opposition candidates and parties are able to criticize incumbents without fear of retaliation. Democracy is thus not only a means of constituting authority, it is also a means of limiting authority.