Indicators of Successful Democratization & their Relation to Democratic Values

Democracy is a form of government where leadership of the country, state or organization is placed in the hands of the majority. The way democracy is defined is not unanimously agreed but though this is the case, there are two important attributes that any democracy must consist of that is; all citizens must enjoy their liberties and freedoms and that all citizens must be equal and able to access power without limitations. Democratization of leadership is the transformation of other forms of government such as dictatorship and plutocracy into a democratic one.

There are various ways through which democratization of nations can be enhanced for example through provision of financial aid or even by using force like in the case of Iraq but the problem with this method is that it offers a short time measure. The democratization of most European nations has been realized through the enlargement and integration of the European nations under the umbrella of the European Union.

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This research paper will basically focus on the key indicators of successful democratization and how these indicators relate to the core values of democracy

Democratization is like a contagious disease because when it works in one country, other countries adopt it on belief that the problems facing them would be solved. Democracy is deemed not to prevail when people are denied the right to express themselves and to challenge the government to do the needful and this gives way to dictatorship . In this kind of government, anyone who stands on the way is eliminated as is regarded as a stumbling block to the development of that particular society.

Again, a country or a state can change from employing other mode of governance and uphold democracy and thus this change can work for or against. For a society to be said to be democratic, then human rights should be fully protected for example, there must be freedom of expression, assembly, to hold a debate and freedom to enquire or question the government on any particular pressing issue . There are factors that act as catalyst to democratization. These are factors such as culture, the wealth of the nation and the level of education.

It is argued that wealth correlates with democracy because countries that are successful in democratization rarely turn to dictatorship . The European Union provides economically weak nations with financial assistance as a bid to influence the democratization process although this has very little effect on the former Soviet Union countries as most of them are economically stable. Education as another catalyst plays a crucial role in the democratization process. It is through education that principles of democracy are taught and spread and thus people are cautions about the kind of people they elect as their leaders.

In most countries where the level of illiteracy is high, people do not know how to differentiate between a good leader and a bad one and thus end up choosing bad leaders who do not have their interests at heart and only aspire to serve their selfish motives . Again, in a bid to democratize, many European nations, about twenty five of them have come together to form an institution that is geared towards regional integration and economic growth something that ha attracted countries like Romania and most of former Soviet union countries.

The western European nations have embarked on a strategy to attract Eastern Europe nations by promising them economic prosperity, prestige and wealth should they agree to join the union. The point of doing this is that institutionalization of European countries minimizes the chances of disruptive discourses to result while at the same time trying to iron differences that exist between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and between Germany and France.

European nations through their union, they have a legitimate body that has evolved over time from what was referred to as a mere consultative body to a fully equipped parliament whose work is to ensure that democracy in Europe prevails. This is based on the understanding that poor economies of nations are the platform to authoritarianism . Another indicator of successive democracy is the protection of human rights. All people in a country that claims to be democratic should enjoy the right to life.

The argument here is that everybody has the right to do whatever he/she pleases as long as it is not endangering the lives of others or is dangerous to oneself. Again, one should have the right to liberty in a democratic country or state. This entails that one should feel free to do whatever they like provided they are not interfering with the rights of others. In democratic countries, there is a clear separation of powers . This entails distributing and placing powers in different institutions to avoid those in power from misusing it.

This is based on understanding that governments have in the past been abusing power thereby violating the rights of the very people there are supposed to protect. When power is placed in the hands of one person, the result is that that person might be inclined to misuse it for his/her own good. In most cases what happens is that decisions are made unliterary and no proper weighing of the matter is done. Where power is separated, it is placed in three arms of the government namely, the judiciary, the executive and the legislature.

Each of these branches has its specific roles that it play for example the role of the judiciary is to make laws, the executive’s role is to ensure that laws made are enforced while that of the judiciary is to determine those who have violated the laws and the amount of punishment they deserve for doing so. They separation of power acts as checks and balances as no single institution can decide to pursue a particular course of action without consulting the other thereby reducing the chances of the government from resulting into use of illegitimate force .

People should also be able to pursue their happiness without limitations from the government. The government must create a healthy environment where men can achieve values they cherish. In doing so, they must be able to think freely and to put their thoughts into actions as long as they are not in contravention to the laid down rules. The level of success as far as democracy is concerned can also be measured by how people are free to express themselves without intimidations.

In Europe during the world war periods, human rights were not valued at all especially in countries that pursued communism ideologies. No one knew how long they would live as death was something that would occur anytime. People could not pursue their happiness as the government stymied every chance they had and that was how millions of Jews in Europe ended losing their lives . In dictatorships, certain expressions are considered unhealthy for the existence of the government and for that reason they are not allowed.

If people are able to own properties without fear of losing it, then this could be regarded as an achievement as far as democratization is concerned. Today, many European nations are capitalistic in nature and what this means is that one is free to do business in any part of the European region without trade barriers as long as it is a legal business and especially in countries that are in the European Union unlike it was the case in the eastern Europe during the world war periods where communism was the main principle.

It is the need for the transformation of this mode of governance that partly led to the worlds wars where the Soviet Union, Germany and a few other countries wanted to spread communism ideologies to the rest of the world something that was interpreted by the western nations spearheaded by the United States of America to mean the death of democracy. The US associated communism with dictatorship as these governments were highly centralized and this could be said to be true when one looks at leadership of Benito Mussolini of Italy and Adolf Hitler of Germany.

At this time no one could have criticized their leadership freely as anyone who did so was deemed as a stumbling block and therefore was eliminated without a second thought . According to Vanhanen, there are two things that can be used to measure the level of democracy in countries for example participation and competition. Legal competition and participation in a government entails that people are free to gang up against the government and challenge it if it is not performing to the expectations without being victimized to do otherwise by the government .

This also means that all regions and people from these regions are equally represented in the government in place but not being that it is only the majority that have their say at the expense of the minority. Every community however small should be well represented as this is the only way that political upheavals can be eliminated. Most revolutions that result in a country are geared towards equal sharing of power and thus when this is done properly, those countries could be said to have successively undergone the democratization process.

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Another indicator of successful democratization is the willingness of people to participate in crucial political processes. This happens when the kind of government in place has successively created an environment that every citizen feels it is safe for them to participate. In highly centralized governments, people shy away or fear to participate in various decision making processes, one because they fear they might be victimized for taking the stand they choose and secondly because they think that even if they participate in these processes, their say will not count .

To effectively assess the level of participation, the population of citizens in a certain country is taken and then compared to those that actually participated in the said political process, be it a referendum or an election. When one looks at how certain European leaders came into power, it is no doubt that they were self-elected or appointed and a classic example is Hitler. When the level of democracy is high, people feel proud of their country and thus value every decision process that might occur.

They feel they are part and parcel of that nation and that it is the future of their country they are shaping. This goes in line with the principle of free self-expression because the power to decide the form of government they want is placed in their hands unlike in dictatorship where leaders are imposed on them thereby giving no room for people to decide what they want. “The degree of participation in crucial decision-making processes either through elections or by some other means is indicative of the relative number of people taking part in politics in general.

The higher the degrees of competition and participation, the higher the level of democratization in a particular political system. ” Another indicator that can be used to measure the level of democratization is the approach that is used to channel information that is whether it is bottom-up approach or top-bottom approach. In democracies, it is the former that is used while in dictatorship it is the latter.

For democracy to be said to have taken place, people must have a say in whatever happens in their lives and this is done through power devolvement. People on the ground should be consulted when any project is planned take place because it might not be their priority . As the saying goes, it is the wearer of the shoes who knows where it pinches most and thus in this case, it is people from that particular community that know what they want most.

In undemocratic regimes, decisions are made at the top and trickle down to the community. People who are entrusted with the role of making decisions do not take time to know what their people want and thus assume things they want but obviously they are very wrong. When this happens, decisions that are made end-up being a waste of time and wastage of resources. Most European countries devolve powers to the locals and this indirectly promotes patriotism something that also increases the chances of democratization to take place.