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Jewish World Review May 26, 2005 / 17 Iyar, 5765 Democracy Everywhere? What a Nutty Idea By Jonathan Rauch
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
— William A. Galston
Washington Monthly, April 2005
July 7, 2005 (Associated Press) — Already fighting to keep its Social
Security initiative afloat, the Bush administration struggled for a
second day yesterday to rebut Democrats' charges that it is scheming to
bring democracy to the whole world.
"We're very enthusiastic about democracy as a general proposition, which
the president has made clear," White House press secretary Scott
McClellan told reporters in a day dominated by partisan cross fire. "But
the idea that this administration is harboring some sort of plan or
intention to make the whole world democratic is just plainly not the
case."
Other administration officials, speaking off the record, were more
blunt. "The claim that this administration is democracy-mongering in
some wild way shows that the other side is desperate and will reach for
any smear, however scurrilous," said a senior White House aide.
To buttress their case, Republicans pointed to the administration's
close ties to a host of unsavory authoritarian regimes, including
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan. "Look," said a senior State
Department official, "we would hardly be propping up the likes of Hosni
Mubarak if we were some gang of good-government zealots."
Democrats, however, redoubled their criticism, apparently believing that
a recently leaked National Security Council memorandum — first reported
by The New York Times on July 5 — gave them fresh ammunition. "The NSC
papers leave no room for doubt," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "This
administration will stop at nothing in its ruthless quest to impose
democracy on the world."
According to the NSC memo, the administration believes that 90 percent
of the world's population should be living under democratic governments
by 2015, a goal it claimed was achievable if China and the Arab world
were democratized. More controversially, the document also called for
the use of "a wide variety of methods, public and covert," to attain
that goal.
"Democracy is a great thing," said Kennedy. "But it is no substitute for
stability in a volatile world, and no justification for imperial
overstretch and presidential hubris. That was what my brother had in
mind when he said we shall pay any reasonable price and bear any
sustainable burden to assure the success of liberty."
Liberal talk radio was aflame over the NSC document, with both listeners
calling in to express outrage. "It's just nutty," said one caller,
identifying herself as Edna of Santa Barbara. "This administration and
their Religious Right puppet-masters, really all they want is to impose
their own values on everybody."
September 17, 2005 (AP) — With agreement tantalizingly close,
congressional negotiations stalled yesterday over controversial
pro-democracy legislation.
"We thought we just about had a deal," a tired Sen. Richard Lugar,
R-Ind., told reporters. Lugar, the chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, said he would abort the negotiations if Democrats did not
retract their filibuster threats.
Democrats, however, accused Republicans of grandstanding and said that
Lugar was bluffing. "If the majority was serious about getting this done
instead of scoring points, we'd have had a deal last week," said Sen.
Joseph Biden, D-Del., the committee's ranking Democrat. "The numbers are
basically settled, and both sides know it."
In comments at a public appearance with Attorney General Tom DeLay,
President Bush reiterated his call for prompt passage of the
legislation. "The world needs the right dose of democracy, and this bill
would provide it," he said.
The Democracy in Moderation Act, as the legislation is called, is no
stranger to controversy. The Bush administration, battered by
accusations that it is seeking political freedom and democratic
government for the entire world, argued initially that its aim of
bringing 90 percent of the world's population under democratic rule by
2015 was "a goal, not a quota or timetable."
When that assurance failed to calm public and congressional alarm, the
White House called for legislation formally enshrining 90 percent
democracy as the maximum the administration would support without
returning to Congress for further authorization. The administration
insisted that its 90 percent democracy target, like its tax-cut target
four years earlier, was "precisely the right amount."
"You do need more democracy," said one official in July. "But not too
much, too fast. We think our figure gets the balance right."
In Congress, however, support soon faltered, with Democrats calling the
president's goal "extreme and dangerous," and many Senate Republicans
expressing unease. "A lot of our guys aren't sure the world is ready for
so much freedom," one Senate GOP leadership aide said. "And holding
elections is expensive. Who would print all the ballots?"
Angered by what they denounced as a "new colonialism," a variety of
liberal organizations joined with traditional Republican isolationists
to protest the Bush initiative. Groups such as Students Against Idealism and Democracy Maybe! deluged the capital with telephone calls, and liberal icon Ralph Nader urged Americans to "stop Bush's
corporate-sponsored democracy racket."
Wary of being seen as opposed to democracy, Democrats countered with
their own "floors, not ceilings" bill, which stipulated that by 2025 no
fewer than 60 percent of the world's people should live under democracy.
"There's no democracy crisis," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid,
D-Nev., said. "This bill will free more than half the world at a
gradual, realistic pace."
Republicans rejected that target as too low and countered with a 75
percent floor on democracy worldwide by 2015, with waivers for China or
Russia if the president certified in writing that either country was
"kind of democratic." Democrats responded that they could accept 75
percent but as a ceiling rather than a floor, and no sooner than 2020.
With their own caucus split and with Bush publicly holding out for a
democracy cap set at 90 percent, Republicans halted the negotiations
yesterday.
"We hope and expect that the Congress will soon go back to work," White
House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. "It's a sad day for the
world when Congress can't answer the aspirations of millions by putting
democracy on the not-too-fast track."
September 27, 2005 (AP) — Succumbing to presidential pressure,
congressional negotiators compromised yesterday on a sweeping bill that
aims to bring a substantial amount of democracy to a significant portion
of the world.
From his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush lauded the agreement
as "an important achievement" and said he will sign the bill. "From the
Boston Tea Party of our forefathers, through Presidents Wilson, Truman,
Kennedy, and Reagan in the last century, and now once again for a new
generation, America stands firm for freedom — not just for some, but
for many."
In a rare display of bipartisanship, Democrats also praised the
agreement. "The world's oppressed, the world's enslaved, need to know
that we are on their side the majority of the time," said House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "The world's tyrants need to understand
that America is their implacable occasional foe."
Maverick Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called the agreement "a pork-barrel
monstrosity that won't free a single human being," but his was a lonely
voice.
October 5, 2005 (AP) — Foreign governments expressed anger yesterday
over the freshly enacted "Bipartisan World Freedom and Improved Roadways
Act," calling it unwarranted interference in their internal affairs.
Saudi Arabia, noting that 96 percent of Senate incumbents and 98 percent
of House incumbents were re-elected in 2004, called for an international
effort to democratize Congress. This, the Saudis estimated, would take
"at least until 2040" to accomplish, but in order to democratize the
U.S., said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, "we shall pay
any price, bear any burden..."
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JWR contributor Jonathan Rauch is a senior writer and columnist for National Journal. Comment by clicking here.
© 2005, Jonathan Rauch
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Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
