|
Wizgot posted:I'm interested in knowing how democracy was implemented so successfully in these countries by the US when they had no democratic tradition in their history. How was the US able to make these countries successfully democratic but today, in Iraq and Afghanistan, they have failed. I'm only an amateur historian, but my recollection is that both Germany and Japan had elements of democracy before WWII - the Weimar Republic was a parliamentary democracy and Japan also had an elected body of representatives - in practice the Emperor was not an absolute ruler. As for the failure of democracy in Iraq/Afghanistan, you could easily write volumes about it, but the short answer is a lack of nationalism - to hold a democracy together, the citizens must be loyal to their country over all, not their region/religious faction(Iraq) or local leader/warlord(Afghanistan). For a successful democracy, you also need a strong middle class, a reasonably educated populace, and a decent infrastructure - you can't just install a type of government and expect it to flourish, something that US leaders/policy makers either don't understand or don't care about.
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2015 15:17
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 11, 2024 17:50 |
|
|
ntan1 posted:On the Japan side of things, Japan had tried to create a democracy during the beginning of the Showa Era (WWI, a bit after WWI), but militarism and nationalism became dominant, giving the emperor/military shogunate control over almost all of the government. Military control coincided with Japan's annexation over most of Asia, before WWII. All true, of course, and the Weimar wasn't exactly a rousing success either, just trying to give a bit of perspective as to the fact that neither country went from directly from a King/Emperor to a full democracy overnight; it was more of an evolutionary move than one might think at first glance.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 18, 2015 17:12
|
|