| Chapter 11. | The Democratization of Countries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Western democracies have a long history and many customs and traditions. Over the years this has formed a specific democratic culture which has given each single citizen an unconscious awareness of democratic values. From this awareness of its citizenry a democratic nation derives the strength to weather bad economic times, mediocre governments, and wars. On the other hand, consequences can be dear if a nation doesn't have this democratic culture. Before WW1 most nations surrounding Germany were democracies while Germany had an imperialistic government. This changed after WW 1. Germany became a democracy as well. However, this democracy lasted only from 1919 to 1933. This short time span could not instill in the German people the necessary democratic values and thus create the instinctive resistance to the demagoguery of Hitler. On the other hand, after the defeat of WW 2 and when realizing the true extent of their dictatorship, Germans embraced democracy willingly for four reasons: A - there existed still a core of democratic politicians, survivors of the concentration camps, who had the moral authority to build a new democracy from the top down. B - the Marshall Plan. C - the beginning of the Cold War making Germany the first line of defense. against the Russians. D - No dissension of the various ethnic, cultural and religious diversities. When Communism collapsed Russian politicians had the good will to form a democracy. Political parties, elections and a parliament were in place and capitalistic enterprises were the first to take advantage of the new freedoms. However, while a few became rich quickly, the masses had to endure capitalistic chaos and ethnic diversity caused Russia to fall apart. Today it seems that the remaining Russia is drifting back toward an authoritarian regime. These examples show that it is possible to build a democracy from the top down when the conditions are right. But the ‘top down' principle fails when the conditions are not right. In the case of Iraq, Afghanistan and the former Jugoslavia the conditions are not right. Partisanship of a governing council, tribal, ethnic and religious diversity are the ingredients which will make the building of a democracy very difficult if not impossible. However, one political force remains completely under utilized today. It's the people. No matter what the ethnic, tribal or religious differences may be, all people have one thing in common - they want to live their lives in peace. By harnessing this single minded motivation for peace, it will be possible to build a democracy from the' bottom up'. This building process should be the task of the United Nations and it can be done as follows:
Step one: On the map only, Iraq is divided into election districts. From each of these districts the UN selects 20 people who approximately mirror the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of this district. The chosen candidates become the Builders of Democracy [BOD's]. They should be made aware of and agree with the following conditions -
The foreign country could be Canada where so called ‘ghost towns' [former mining towns] exist. Refurbished, one of these towns could house the BOD's and the UN personnel consisting of psychologists, political scientists, religious experts, doctors, school teachers, police, etc. Step three: On the arrival in Canada the first task of the BOD's will be to find human contact among each other. The psychologists and religious experts will guide this process and troublemakers will be sent home. Step four: As soon as it looks that the BOD's become a homogeneous group, the construction of the infrastructure of the future TD e-parliament of Iraq can begin. This includes an elaborate telephone network reaching the farthest village. Step five: Assisted by the political scientists, constitutional and religious experts, the BOD's begin the task to deliberate on the problems of their nation, find the solutions and write a constitution. This work will take some time but at the end of it the BOD's will not only have the political solutions, they also have become a group firmly dedicated to bring democracy to their country. They are now fully prepared to meet all the challenges which await them upon their return. Step six: Returned to their country, the BOD's move into their offices and start working. Of course, they are not yet TD MPs, but the infrastructure of the future TD e-parliament will serve them to coordinate their efforts to win the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens. In town-hall meetings, phone-ins and personal contacts they teach, explain, and try to convince their fellow citizens that they have a better future in a secular democracy. This process will draw the diversities together and facilitate the mutual understanding. Of course, the religious factions, special interests, warlords, etc. will not be quiet. But in most cases these groups are not based on a wide spread of the population and they usually just use the people to serve their specific purposes. In comparison, the BOD's can explain that, in a democracy they will be free citizens who can elect anybody of their choice and thus have the power, through their parliament, to direct their own destiny. One particular reason will help the BOD's. After all those years of strife and violence and having being subjugated to the whims of a dictator, the people have a deep yearning for peace. It's the ordinary men and women who have to endure the hardships and bring the sacrifices but never those who are pulling the strings. Therefore, the message of the BOD's will find open ears, and the resulting political will at the grass roots level will now welcome and sustain democracy. Step seven: The teaching of the BOD's will have the result that at one point the people will ask for the much heralded elections and the BOD's have to oblige. With the first election the TD e-parliament, the power of the state, comes into existence and the only step left is the election of the TD government. Step eight: From the existing governing council of Iraq the new Iraqi e-parliament will form the temporary government until the people can elect their government. This will complete the democratization of Iraq.
From the 20 original BOD's only four would get elected into the TD e-parliament. The none elected ones will become assistants to the TD MPs.. |