My Dear Friend of Democracy,
Can every country in the world become a democracy?
Science is optimistic. Democracy is possible everywhere, regardless of ethnic composition, culture, religion, level of economic development, or international environment.
But what does it take?
A favourable revolutionary situation. More precisely, a weakened and divided regime, for example, after a lost war or a severe economic crisis; a dissatisfied or even desperate people prepared to take the risks of rebellion; and a revolutionary leadership that enjoys support among the people and demonstrates strategic skill.
That isn't likely, you say?
People have always thought so. But the past teaches us that revolutions usually come as a surprise.
There have always been democratic revolutions in countries and regions where they were considered unlikely and even surprised experts. Think of of the fall of the Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe, individual African and Asian countries, or the rebellions in the Arab world a decade ago.
The past also teaches us that successfully overthrowing an old regime does not automatically lead to a stable democracy.
Science also proves that support from established democracies helps young democracies. This is all the more important when young and unstable democracies border non-democratic countries that try to undermine democratic development.
✊ States like Georgia and Ukraine need European support to survive as democracies. This not only helps these young democracies but also the established ones. The more democracies there are, the better they can support each other and the more resilient they become against authoritarian regimes.
See you in Europe,
Johannes
Good read. In my opinion, in order for a country to move towards democracy, there needs to be a certain level of infrastructure and education among its people. Many countries lack this infrastructure, which is the fault of the regimes, as they purposely didn't want people to have the level of education (and I don't mean just school education) needed to make decisions for themselves.