Democracy In The Arab World

Introduction

For years Americans and Arabs have done talks on democracy. For instance when President Clinton asked the Palestine leader Yasser Arafat to agree upon the Camp David peace plans that had been negotiated on July 2001, Arafat more and so answered with words that meant: "If I do what you ask, Hamas will take over tomorrow." The Arab Saudi spokesperson, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, constantly reminded the American government if they push their government to hard, the results may not be Jeffersonian style democracy but a Taliban style theocracy.

The worst part from all that is, they might be right. The Arab leaders of the Middle-East are autocratic, corrupt and iron handed. But they are much more liberal, tolerant and pluralistic than what might become of their replacements. The elections in many Arab countries may deliver politicians that have a similar views of the Middle-East that are similar to Usamah bin Laden than a monarchy Jordanian liberal leader such as King Abdullah. In 2005 the emir of Kuwait, with support from America, recommended that women should have a right to elect. But the Kuwait parliament which was picked in a democratic way (but was also full with Islamic fundamentalists) denied the initiative. A similar dynamism is real in almost every Arab country. In Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco, in almost every political issue, the monarchies are usually much more liberal than the people they lead. And event though they talk much about elections, many Islamic parties have shown negative impressions on democracy; they see democracy as a form of western government. They will happily try to attain power by elections, but will develop their own theocratic regulations. So like we have all seen and happened most of the times, one man, one voice, and one time.

So is democracy suitable for the Middle-East? That is question which we will try to elucidate from this essay.

The Arab World

Nowadays the Arab world are trapped between countries that are autocratic and a society that has shallow way of thinking, these two are not a suitable condition to which democracy can grow upon on. The grievous dynamic relation between these two has created political conditions which are filled with religious extremity and violence. When the country tries to be repressive, the opposing society grows much more violent, pushing the country to be much more repressive. Unlike the West, where liberalism generates democracy, and democracy has become the fuel for liberalism. The path that Arabs has taken, has established a dictatorial government which then from this dictatorial government, terrorism has been born. But terrorism is the only manifestations that which has been continually publicized, but in fact there are more problems which are the cause of the dysfunctional relationship between government and its people. There are economic failures, social entrapments and intellectual impoverishments.

The central dilemma of democratic reform in Arab countries can be summed up fairly simple. Presidents and kings remain too powerful, untrammeled by the limits imposed by effective parliaments and independent judiciaries. Countervailing institutions remain weak, if they exist at all, not only because constitutions and laws deliberately keep them that way, but also because they are not backed by organized citizens demanding political rights, participation, and government accountability. This does not mean that there is no desire for democracy on the part of Arab publics. Recent opinion surveys suggest that in the abstract there is strong support for more open political systems, increased protection of human rights, and broader personal liberties. However, the existence of a general, diffuse sense that democracy is a good thing is quite different from the existence of organized constituencies that provide a counterweight to the authoritarianism of incumbent governments. The demand, or better the desire, for democracy is present in the Arab world today; what is lacking is a supply of broad-based political organizations pushing for democracy--political parties, social movements, labor unions, large civic organizations. Unless such constituencies develop, the future of democracy remains extremely uncertain. In many countries, governments anxious to burnish their modern image will continue to introduce modest reforms. Until the governments face stronger pressure from organized citizens, however, they will not take steps to truly curb the power of the executive by strengthening checks and balances and allowing unfettered political participation.

Small constituencies for democratic change do exist in the Arab world. Many intellectuals have embraced the idea of democracy and popular participation and are speaking up with increasing openness on these issues. This is not a new development. Political elites that believe in political reform have long existed in the region. Arab intellectuals have been keenly aware of the need for change ever since the intensification of contacts with Europe in the nineteenth century drove home the extent to which the Arab world was stagnating. But until recently, intellectuals have been divided about what change was necessary to revitalize the region. Not all looked to democracy for salvation. Nationalism, both as the nationalism of one country or as pan-Arab nationalism, has been an important response to the challenge of change. Arab socialism has as well. In the last decade, however, the idea of democracy has come to occupy an increasingly large space, even if it is challenged by the upsurge of Islamist ideas.

The Arab debate about democracy, which was rife in the early part of the twentieth century but was later almost completely absent from political discourse, has been relaunched. The concept of liberal democracy now enjoys support from Arab intellectuals who rejected it in the 1960s and 1970s as a Western ideology unsuitable to Arab culture and countries. These intellectuals are disenchanted with their governments, want political reform, and, despite the growing anti-Western and particularly anti-American sentiments in the region, are ready to accept that democracy is a valid political system for the Arab world. The intellectual elite has come to see democratic reform as an absolute necessity not only to break the hold of authoritarian regimes, but also to revitalize Arab societies, opening up their economies and societies alike. Even Arab governments, under pressure from their citizens and foreign governments, feel they must echo this sentiment that the time for reform