Whose Democracy?

This article is a response to an article in the last edition of The Sydney Globalist, entitled ‘Democracy: A Consensus?’. To view past editions of the magazine, click on ‘Past Editions’ in the menu above.

The nexus between democracy and the solution to the crisis in Myanmar is hardly as obvious as Anshu De Silva Wijeyeratne seems to suggest in the November 2008 edition of The Sydney Globalist. Indeed, in examining the crisis in terms of “ASEAN’s credibility in dealing with the challenge of democratising Myanmar”, his analysis makes two highly questionable assumptions.

The first concerns the relationship between democracy and the protection of human rights. Liberal democracy has (what Michael Mann has called) a ‘dark side’ inseparable from the history of class warfare and genocide in the West. Mann’s analysis suggests that not only is democracy firmly rooted within a social, cultural and historical framework that normalises relations between the various power centres within a nation-state, but also that democracy as a political framework is as complex as any other political system. In prematurely dismissing ‘Asian values’ as an explanation for ASEAN’s apathy, Wijeyeratne implies that the highly contextual values and cultural norms of democracy are easily transferred. There is a danger in placing too much faith in the universality of democratic norms, especially where they are detached from the cultural context that provides them with meaning and substance.

Regardless, the implication that democracy provides some sort of solution (or part of the solution) to the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar presumes that democratic institutions are inherently fairer, more efficient, and capable of addressing the problem. This is clearly not the case, as Kate Sullivan suggested in her article on democracy in China. A critique that addresses the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar within a rigid framework, which presumes that democracy is an essential part of the solution, risks imposing a solution that is unviable and ultimately counter-productive.

Sue Soueid is in her fourth year of a combined degree in Law and Arts, majoring in Government and International Relations.