In 1992, I wrote a lit\u00adtle essay in which I crit\u00adi\u00adcized the wide\u00adspread belief that democ\u00adra\u00adcy is noth\u00ading more than a mere local cus\u00adtom of a few \u201cwest\u00adern\u201d coun\u00adtries, of lit\u00adtle inter\u00adest or applic\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty to most of the world. This ortho\u00addoxy, taught in count\u00adless uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty cours\u00ades and glibly (and glee\u00adful\u00adly) chant\u00aded by all the world\u2019s enthu\u00adsi\u00adasts for tyran\u00adny and exploita\u00adtion, was, I wrote, with\u00adout his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal or anthro\u00adpo\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal foun\u00adda\u00adtion. I point\u00aded out that the ele\u00adments on which mod\u00adern rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive democ\u00adra\u00adcies were built exist in every major cul\u00adtur\u00adal tra\u00addi\u00adtion, and are the com\u00admon expe\u00adri\u00adence and her\u00aditage of humankind. I sketched out a series of exam\u00adples that sup\u00adport\u00aded my the\u00adsis. But the arti\u00adcle was noth\u00ading more than an anec\u00addo\u00adtal \u201cthink piece\u201d.<\/p>\n
My friend Steven Muhlberg\u00ader, an expe\u00adri\u00adenced his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan, sug\u00adgest\u00aded that it be turned into a sys\u00adtem\u00adat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly researched aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic paper. Togeth\u00ader, we under\u00adtook this task, pour\u00ading into it rough\u00adly ten times the effort that a short paper would nor\u00admal\u00adly require. My knowl\u00adedge of his\u00adto\u00adri\u00ado\u00adgraph\u00adi\u00adcal method\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy and dis\u00adci\u00adpline was lim\u00adit\u00aded. Steve trained me on the spot. The cross-cul\u00adtur\u00adal theme required us to famil\u00adiar\u00adize our\u00adselves with a huge range of sources. We split the work\u00adload, bounced text back and forth until we could\u00adn\u2019t tell who wrote what, and fussed over every detail.<\/p>\n
The paper appeared in a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly minor aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion, the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Hawaii \u2019s Jour\u00adnal of World His\u00adto\u00adry. We expect\u00aded to get a hand\u00adful of respons\u00ades, the usu\u00adal let\u00adters or e\u2011mails from spe\u00adcial\u00adists with a bone to pick about a detail; and after that, the obliv\u00adion that the vast major\u00adi\u00adty of papers, even in major jour\u00adnals, can expect.<\/p>\n
Well, that\u2019s not what hap\u00adpened. Over the years, the paper seems to have been passed around quite a bit, and influ\u00adenced a lot of peo\u00adple. A few years lat\u00ader, it was reprint\u00aded in book form by the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia, in an anthol\u00ado\u00adgy with a wide read\u00ader\u00adship. Since then, it has been repeat\u00aded\u00adly cit\u00aded in a vari\u00adety of books and arti\u00adcles, some\u00adtimes by lead\u00ading his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans. [Any\u00adone inter\u00adest\u00aded in the movie rights?] Very grat\u00adi\u00adfy\u00ading. Much more grat\u00adi\u00adfy\u00ading has been the knowl\u00adedge that it has pro\u00advid\u00aded some intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal ammu\u00adni\u00adtion to stu\u00addents and demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic activists around the globe, many of whom are strug\u00adgling against des\u00adper\u00adate odds to improve con\u00addi\u00adtions for their com\u00adpa\u00adtri\u00adots. I am very proud of that lit\u00adtle work, and I\u2019m sure that Steve feels the same.<\/p>\n
Some of the con\u00adtexts in which we are quot\u00aded are sur\u00adpris\u00ading, and some are down\u00adright goofy, but none has tak\u00aden me aback as much is this one, sent to me by a dis\u00adtant friend.<\/p>\n
It seems that for\u00admer Unit\u00aded States House Major\u00adi\u00adty Leader, Richard Gephart, twice a con\u00adtender for the Pres\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial nom\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion, and a major play\u00ader in the Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic par\u00adty for a gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, gave a speech in New York last year, which began thus:<\/p>\n
The recent his\u00adto\u00adry of humankind con\u00adtains good news about the advance of democ\u00adra\u00adcy in nations across the world. Amer\u00adi\u00adcans have always believed that democ\u00adra\u00adcy is \u2014 as said by Phil Paine and Steve Muhlberg\u00ader: \u201cA moral imper\u00ada\u00adtive of uni\u00adver\u00adsal appli\u00adca\u00adtion and valid\u00adi\u00adty to all human com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties\u201d. Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln put it this way: \u201cOur defense is in the preser\u00adva\u00adtion of the spir\u00adit which prizes lib\u00ader\u00adty as a her\u00aditage of all men, in all lands, everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n
Well, after pick\u00ading myself off the floor and nurs\u00ading an elbow that col\u00adlid\u00aded with the fur\u00adni\u00adture, I poured out a shot of Cana\u00addi\u00adan whiskey (a reflex in Cana\u00addi\u00adans as instinc\u00adtive as salut\u00ading the flag is to Amer\u00adi\u00adcans). To find myself, as I sit in my lit\u00adtle apart\u00adment in Toron\u00adto, con\u00adtem\u00adplat\u00ading how to spend the eleven dol\u00adlars I have left after pay\u00ading the rent, being quot\u00aded by Dick Gephart, is bizarre enough. To have it in the same breath with Abra\u00adham Lin\u00adcoln is weird\u00adness overload.<\/p>\n
Now, I don\u2019t have any par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar opin\u00adion about Dick Gephart. I know that he has been a fix\u00adture in Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pol\u00adi\u00adtics for decades, and that he is gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adsid\u00adered a \u201cprag\u00adma\u00adtist\u201d [i.e., he occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly changes his opin\u00adion or sur\u00adpris\u00ades the press with a posi\u00adtion. In the less rigid Cana\u00addi\u00adan par\u00adlia\u00adment, this would not be par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly note\u00adwor\u00adthy]. I know that he opposed NAFTA<\/span>. That\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n Through\u00adout his speech, Gephart seems to assume that the demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic move\u00adment in the world is the result of Amer\u00adi\u00adcans spread\u00ading the gospel of an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan idea. This is the polar oppo\u00adsite of what Steve and I were try\u00ading to con\u00advey in our paper. We explic\u00adit\u00adly stat\u00aded that democ\u00adra\u00adcy is a way of doing things with his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal roots in the entire human com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty. It is not an \u201cAmer\u00adi\u00adcan idea\u201d \u2015 or a British Idea, or a French Idea, or any oth\u00ader spe\u00adcif\u00adic country\u2019s idea. It is not \u201cwest\u00adern\u201d (what\u00adev\u00ader the hell that idi\u00adot\u00adic term is sup\u00adposed to mean). It is human. That is what the words Mr. Gephart quot\u00aded are intend\u00aded to con\u00advey. Some indi\u00advid\u00adual Amer\u00adi\u00adcans have been help\u00adful to the world democ\u00adra\u00adcy move\u00adment. Occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly, U. S. gov\u00adern\u00adment poli\u00adcies have been help\u00adful to some strug\u00adgles. But far more often, Amer\u00adi\u00adcan poli\u00adcies have ham\u00adpered democ\u00adra\u00adcy move\u00adments through\u00adout the world, either crush\u00ading and betray\u00ading them, or sub\u00advert\u00ading and cor\u00adrupt\u00ading them into instru\u00adments for pure\u00adly aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic pur\u00adpos\u00ades. I\u2019m sure that Mr. Gephart had no idea that the authors he was quot\u00ading are Cana\u00addi\u00adans, not Amer\u00adi\u00adcans. I doubt that he got the mes\u00adsage of what he was reading.<\/p>\n His speech went on to encour\u00adage retired Amer\u00adi\u00adcans to vol\u00adun\u00adteer for pro\u00adgrams that would \u201cteach democ\u00adra\u00adcy\u201d to peo\u00adple in oth\u00ader coun\u00adtries. Now, there is noth\u00ading objec\u00adtion\u00adable about some of the exam\u00adples he gave, such as a retired Amer\u00adi\u00adcan busi\u00adness\u00adman start\u00ading a \u201cmicro-loan\u201d ser\u00advice in Moroc\u00adco. Micro-loan ser\u00advices are great, and they do a lot of good, and while they are not direct\u00adly rel\u00ade\u00advant to polit\u00adi\u00adcal democ\u00adra\u00adcy, they fit in with the demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic ethos. But Gephart seemed to think that this was an Amer\u00adi\u00adcan idea. It is not. The micro-loan\u00ading move\u00adment was pio\u00adneered in Bangladesh and Peru, by local peo\u00adple who were frus\u00adtrat\u00aded by the monot\u00ado\u00adnous fail\u00adure of the ideas pro\u00admot\u00aded by Amer\u00adi\u00adcan and Euro\u00adpean uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adties, aid agen\u00adcies, and politi\u00adcians. It was part\u00adly inspired by move\u00adments in 19th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Scot\u00adland, Bohemia, and Cana\u00adda, though most\u00adly con\u00adceived and devel\u00adoped by peo\u00adple on the spot. Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pub\u00adlic offi\u00adcials, econ\u00ado\u00admists, busi\u00adness\u00admen and aca\u00add\u00ade\u00admics scorned it, until it proved mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent\u00adly successful.<\/p>\n As a demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic the\u00ado\u00adrist, I look for inspi\u00adra\u00adtion to many Amer\u00adi\u00adcan thinkers. I read Thomas Paine, Fred\u00ader\u00adick Dou\u00adglas, Jef\u00adfer\u00adson, Lin\u00adcoln, and many oth\u00aders with atten\u00adtion. Amer\u00adi\u00adca was once led by men of that stamp. But from an Amer\u00adi\u00adca in which a dis\u00adgust\u00ading lit\u00adtle pip\u00adsqueak trai\u00adtor like George W. Bush can actu\u00adal\u00adly become Pres\u00adi\u00addent, there is very lit\u00adtle any\u00adone can learn. Until Amer\u00adi\u00adcans can clean up their own act and put them\u00adselves back on track, their reform\u00ading ener\u00adgies are bet\u00adter used at home than in \u201cspread\u00ading democ\u00adra\u00adcy\u201d to dis\u00adtant soils. After all, who would buy hair restor\u00ader from a bald man? If you are look\u00ading for a tutor to help you get bet\u00adter marks, you don\u2019t pick the large, mus\u00adcu\u00adlar kid in the school\u00adyard, who is giv\u00ading wed\u00adgies to nerds and beat\u00ading up the lit\u00adtle kids. Yes, it is true that the Unit\u00aded States has made many impor\u00adtant con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions to the his\u00adto\u00adry of demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic ideas. Any\u00adone inter\u00adest\u00aded in democ\u00adra\u00adcy would be wise to study its his\u00adto\u00adry, to learn from both its suc\u00adcess\u00ades and its fail\u00adures. But, at the moment, Amer\u00adi\u00adcans are not in a good posi\u00adtion to act as tutors to the world in demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic the\u00ado\u00adry. Their own demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions are rapid\u00adly erod\u00ading, their last elec\u00adtion was only dubi\u00adous\u00adly legit\u00adi\u00admate, and they are present\u00adly ruled by a gang of thugs who are a men\u00adace to democ\u00adra\u00adcy and civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtion. The coun\u00adtry is in debt up to its ears, cul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adly stag\u00adnant, and has a long, shame\u00adful record of sup\u00adport\u00ading kings, dic\u00adta\u00adtors, and oth\u00ader inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal criminals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 1992, I wrote a lit\u00adtle essay in which I crit\u00adi\u00adcized the wide\u00adspread belief that democ\u00adra\u00adcy is noth\u00ading more than a mere local cus\u00adtom of a few \u201cwest\u00adern\u201d coun\u00adtries, of lit\u00adtle inter\u00adest or applic\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty to most of the world. This \u2026<\/p>\n