The Importance of External Influences in Building a Democracy
In Democracy in the Third World, Robert Pinkney analyzed circumstances
that have been important in the past for building a democracy for
current democratic regimes. Pinkney studies seven comparatives and
their theories for the cause and effect of democracy and identifies
their pros and cons. The most important of these conditions stands in
the external influences and foreign participation in building the
state as a democracy of a non-democratic country.
In his “Conditions Conducive to Democracy” chart Pinkney introduces
the condition of external influences being one of these conditions
that to a democracy. He defines it as when foreign governments,
institutions or individuals supply ideas, offer inducements or apply
sanctions. Pinkney states that the sole problem with the idea is that
the influence can not be direct but indirect because for democracy to
continue it must not be imposed. There are specific country case
studies that contradicts the problem that Pinkney states.
Pinkney also acknowledges six other conditions conducive to democracy:
economic development, political attitudes and behaviour, inter-elite
relations, social structure and interaction between social groups,
political institutions and sequences in development. Each of these
conditions are not as relevant to the institutionalization of
democracy as external influences. Economic development is only
relevant in the Western democracies, India is an established democracy
and the GNP per capita is $390, while the GNP per capita in France is
$26,052 and China, a communist state, has a higher GNP per capita ...
... middle of paper ...
... their voices
heard against NAFTA.
Robert Pinkney states that the problem with this arguments is that the
external influence must be indirect and not be imposed. Here there are
two examples where democracy has been imposed and the influence is
direct from the democracy to the non-democracy. Germany has had four
peaceful electoral regime changes in the past fifty years and the
democratic notion is never questioned anymore. The complete occupation
and the slow adaptation of a democratic political framework ensures a
democratic growth within the state and people.
Works Consulted
Kesselman, Mark. Joel Krieger and William Joseph. Introduction to
Comparative
Politics, 2 ed. Houghton MIfflin Company: Boston, MA. 2000.
Pinkney, Robert. Democracy in the Third World. Lynne Rienner
Publishers: Boulder, CO.
Kyi Suu San Aung. "The Quest of Democracy." Reading The World: Ideas That Matter, edited
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