The Rise of Communal Democracies in the East (original) (raw)

Perhaps more than any other political notion in our times, democracy has reached remarkable levels of universal reception. It seems as if in some abstract way, democracy has been embraced by nearly all regimes. It has developed into its own creed, elevated to the religion of the political world. Ironically, even regimes that would be easily classified as nondemocratic, under traditional definitions, happily invoke the word to remain in the "circle of the faithful". While calling someone a democrat has become a term of endearment, denying or even questioning democracy's merits has been tantamount to committing a primordial sin, rendering one an outcast to the political community. One would be hard pressed to find a regime left in the world that is not a self-proclaimed democracy (irrespective of its practices). By all means, therefore, it appears as though democracy has turned into the most powerful source for "just" authority, prescribed as panacea to the woes of all regimes. Both friends and foes of the democratic conception drink from its fountain to be blessed with credibility. Yet in its universality, democracy has lost its specificity; it has been interpreted inconsistently by different regimes across different contexts to justify regime sovereignty.

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