The foreign policy failures of the Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan have made democracy promotion out of fashion. In his second inaugural address in 2004, President Bush declared that, “So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.”
These bold and perhaps combative words meant for every non-democratic regime from China to Zimbabwe ignored geopolitical reality. Yet, Iraq has proven that no matter how much military might we exert or how many trillions of dollars we borrow, democracy cannot be forcibly planted in nations unwilling to accept it.
Yet, an alternative way of democracy promotion exists. Termed soft power by political scientist Joseph Nye the United States has a capacity through the sheer popularity of American culture and American values via globalization to attract other nations to our own way of life. Soft power operates by way of attracting other nations to our own policy goals rather than hard power which operates through coercion (military power and economic sanctions).
The idea is that America, by being economic strong and politically free, can act as an example for other peoples and governments to emulate. Indeed, this kind of power is said to have been a prime driver in the dissolution of the USSR when millions of people living under authoritarian states rejected communism in favor of liberal democracy.
But, for this to work, the United States must be patient and also be sure that our democracy is worth emulating. Here, my claim is not that U.S. democracy is bad or limited in its applicability to other states but rather that our democracy is not perfect. We can always be more democratic.
Felons in some states can’t vote even after serving their terms. There remain substantial barriers to full fledged suffrage when millions of U.S. citizens aren’t registered to vote or when the registration process is designed to discriminate against the poor. However, the more problematic feature of our democracy lies not in our policies per se, but the way in which we deliberate democratically, if it can be called deliberation at all.
The polarization of American politics which began in the 1970s has culminated in a situation where the Senate Minority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell recently said that, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Not tax cuts, not education reform, nor solving America’s illegal immigration quandry. Just political victory at all costs.
So, when foreigners see American politics. Do they see citizens actively disagreeing, debating and working together to solve common problems? Or do they see two parties flushed with billions of dollars from anonymous donors trying to win?
The truth of the matter is that American democracy is not perfect. America has not had a coherent energy policy, aside from subsidizing the oil industry, for decades even though Congress passes energy legislation every few years. America has a huge illegal immigration problem and the solution is not xenophobia nor ignorance. America owes China and the rest of the world trillions of dollars and the solution isn’t pretending to want to cut the deficit and explode military spending at the same time.
When other countries look to the U.S. model of government, what if they see the polarization, the bitterness, the substitution of genuine speech by money instead of the protection of individual liberty and a government that responds to the wishes of its citizens?
Democracy can only serve as an example if effectively practiced. We must remain true to the spirit of democracy when we ask others to adopt it. That means, we must work on how democratic we are before imposing it on others. Only then, can democracy spread.
