Democratic Society Essay

The conducted study revealed that both external and internal factors are of great importance for facilitation democratic changes in developing countries. Some observers argue that democratic outcomes are strongly related to the extent to which power holders have been encouraged by pressure from various external and domestic sources – for example, internationally, from foreign governments granting financial aid and, at home, from civil and political society to allow citizens greater participation in the political arena. Others suggest that democratic progress is primarily associated with an array of domestic factors affecting political outcomes, including level of economic development, quality of political leadership and political culture. It seems that truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between. Without a doubt, globalization of democratization encourages developing countries to keep up to date and join the process of internationalization of economic growth and get profit from widening of free markets, reinforced by new means of international communication. But our study proves that to promote democratization the developing nation has to maintain multiple domestic conditions such as adherence to sustainable economic development and willingness to allocate public resources in equitable manner, strong middle class, powerful and soundly structured civil society, effectively functioning multi-party system, and liberal political culture. Thus, economic development proved to be the most important predictor of democratization. It seems that, once a country achieves a certain degree of economic development, additional economic growth is an important ingredient for the developing country’s continued progress toward further democratization. Our study demonstrated that continued democratization of developing countries depends heavily on their economic liberalization, supported by the increased purchasing power of the people. The empirical findings cited in our study clearly showed that the ‘unique’ Confucian or Islamic political culture/civilization does not prevent the internationalization of national economies from affecting the degree of democracy. It seems, therefore, that states may be able to delay, but not negate, the process of political liberalization induced by economic liberalization. As the economic opportunities increase for individuals and private businesses, their awareness of the potential for improving their civil liberties also increases. Subsequently, they will begin to demand more freedom. It seems, therefore, that the improvement of the standard of living and the popular involvement in the economic and political decision-making are critical for long-term democratization in developing countries. References Arblaster, A. (1999). Democratic Society and Its Enemies. In P. Burnell & P. Calvert, (Eds. ), The Resilience of Democracy: Persistent Practice, Durable Idea, special issue of Democratization, 6(1), 33-49.