In defence of the idea of democracy,  ideals of freedom

Democracy as an idea has long historical origins that cannot be exclusively claimed by any one society, much less the Western world. How democracy is practiced is a completely different matter that varies.  

There is no one template for attaining and entrenching democratic governance, that is why attempts by actors in the West, however well-intentioned, to promote democracy, are misguided and often counterproductive.

On their part, critics of Western liberal democracy, which has enormous flaws that many in the West are either blithely unaware of or unwilling to concede to, are quick to use a big brush sweep.  

With the dysfunction in Western democratic institutions, the duplicity of Western leaders and the racism so brazen, the assault on the idea of democracy is a cheap target precisely because of the erroneous supposition that democracy is necessarily a Western idea! It is not. 

Thus, the baby has to go with the bathwater. The West’s condescending lecturing to non-Western nations about democracy and human rights is increasingly met with an equally dismissive tone from not just the ruling elites but also sections of the intelligentsia in a country like Uganda. 

At any rate, Uganda’s democratic credentials today are a mockery of the idea of democracy. The problem with rulers in Uganda and their supporters, along with unwitting intellectual allies, is the pretence to being democratic while offending the most basic and fundamental tenets of democracy. 

For the rulers though, it is understandable why attacks on Western liberal democracy is a good strawman and a cheap entry avenue to assaulting principles of democratic government – it offers a convenient excuse for authoritarian rule. 

What is not so obvious to understand, however, is why some among the African intelligentsia, many passing for independent-minded commentators espousing radical ideals, don’t quite realise they sing from the same hymn book as the rulers when they assail the ideals of democracy just because Western-style liberal democracy has failed or carries with it deep internal flaws. 

It is easy to attack what isn’t working or doesn’t work well; it is very difficult to articulate a viable and convincing alternative. In the case of Uganda, in 1986, the new military rulers told us that political parties were anathema to Uganda’s quest for democratic government. That we should instead embrace an alternative called the ‘no-party’ system. 

Majority Ugandans, including the intellectual class, went along with Mr Museveni’s packaging. Only a minority that was sceptical had the last laugh in the end because the contraption of ‘no-party’ democracy only aided the ruling clique to entrench itself by monopolising the political space. 

Today, it is hard to argue  that replacing a basic democratic principle of free political and civic association through political parties with a vague no-party ‘Movement’ alternative brought about deepening of democratic government in Uganda.

Quite to the contrary, we now have a full-blown autocracy of a highly personalist tenor and texture under the firm grip of Mr Museveni. There is often a false premise of faulting democracy for failing to deliver material wellbeing.

But if you take the African continent, there is not much evidence to back a counterargument that nondemocratic governments necessarily do well in bringing about socioeconomic transformation. 

In fact, if we set aside the obsession with Western liberal democracy, countries that do well at the level of socioeconomic wellbeing will often have important systems of local-level democratic accountability and citizen-voice in ways not reducible to Western templates.

Related, sections of the African intelligentsia today use criticisms of capitalism, valid on their own merit, to sweep aside the idea of democracy. Either out of innocent ignorance or by dint of deliberate intellectual dishonesty, they conflate failures of democracy with problems germane to capitalism. 

The reality is that you can have capitalist exploitation and parasitism with or without a democratic system of government, and democratic governments can function with or without capitalism as an economic model. 

Capitalism with Chinese characteristics has in fairly quick order made China a global economic power unrivalled in its manufacturing muscle.

And capitalism with Scandinavian features has harmoniously coexisted with a social democratic model that make Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have the world’s highest rankings on quality of life and overall social wellbeing.

Moses Khisa, [email protected]