Democracy can’t be exported anywhere in the world because it’s not merely the name of holding elections, rather it is a culture of governance and decision-making that ensures participation at the lowest level. In practice, democracy is the most abused concept in the contemporary history, where any action can be labeled as a democratic act.
What is required, is a culture of democracy, where participation in decision-making is ensured at every level not merely a cosmetic measure.
As Abraham Lincoln rightly said that democracy is a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In practice, the executive uses democracy as a tool to advance their agenda through token representation. A study of the governance structures of the Post-Soviet countries reveal that majority of the population is unaware of the soul of democracy where participation is not real, rather a show, where the executive proposes an idea, in an authoritarian way - leaving no room for dissent - takes a decision and then declare it to be perfectly democratic. This is subordination rather than democracy. A significant number of people thinks that, having a right to select the car they want to buy, dress they want to wear or a home they want to live in, is democracy and they are happy to have this right because they didn’t had it in the Soviet times.
What is required, is a culture of democracy, where participation in decision-making is ensured at every level not merely a cosmetic measure.
