Disseminating Democratic Education Now

Disseminating Democratic Education Now

The subject of disseminating democratic education is important and urgent, chiefly because the topic of the transfer of democracy is vital. and even urgently so. And yet no transfer of democracy is possible without some large-scale democratic education. Of course, to that end we must stick to basics, as time and efficiency may make the difference between success and failure. For, there are few occasions given for democratization, and they are always all to brief, as the bitter experience of the current United States administration of Iraq has learned the hard way. It is reasonable to emulate all sorts of aspects of the democratic way of life on the reasonable assumption that they may help democratization. For example, there is little doubt that even viewing cheap Hollywood movies may help. But we need not be social or political scientists to know that this is a poor diet as far as democratic education go. And the Iraqi people will not democratize by viewing movies or television. Nevertheless, quite possibly this is the most efficient way to disseminate democracy. Under what conditions this is so and how much time it requires? These are vital questions. They were not discussed, as far as my little knowledge goes. There is, on the whole, little literature about the vital topic of the transfer of democracy even though it is so topical today, particularly for ones who are concerned with the fate of Iraq. There is even less literature about the vital topic of education for democracy even in a democratic society. I read recently a remark about the paucity of this kind of literature, but I need not refer to any particular source. Anyone who has minimal internet literacy can seek on the internet democratic education or education for democracy, or democratization and see how poor is the state of the art. There is a good reason for this. One might suggest that the reason is simply intellectual poverty, but this is not the case. Even some interesting and bold ideas are not studied and not taken up. For example, the plan of President Habib Borguiba of Tunis for shipping thousands of youths to democratic countries for a couple of years. There was much talk once about it -- in the wake of the reeducation of German youths after World War II. This plan is admittedly too costly and it is even an expression of despair, of utter ignorance of how democratic practices can be transferred without the transfer of its carriers.