Growing up in the nineties, back when Pogs and Power Rangers were in vogue, I only had the barest interest in the distinctions between various political ideologies and governments. The extent of my knowledge was some abstract idea that “freedom is good” and that people who didn’t like “freedom” were bad. Only years later did I look back in retrospect to see how unique that kind of societal upbringing, however incomplete in its comprehension, really is in the world.
Liberal democracy isn’t as common as we may assume. In other corners of the world, a democratic system that places more emphasis on individual liberty than collective will is something so uncommon that it’s relegated to academic theory and abstract consideration.
In Europe, social democracy is often the norm. Though this system may have merits, it is so innately fearful of conflict or the individual trumping the needs of the majority that it may often overreact to situations. Last year in Sweden, an eight-year-old boy had his birthday party invitations confiscated at school because he did not give one to all of his classmates, which sparked a debate that led to the steps of the Swedish Parliament.In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez refused to allow Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa to address opposition demonstrations and has recently won a referendum that some fear could lead to him holding the presidency of that country for life. In both cases, though, these states have systems considered democratic, yet civil liberties often take a back seat to collectivism.
I often think of our democratic system as a full-contact sport in comparison to the philosophies of other democracies. Instead of keeping our ideological disagreements behind closed doors, we openly debate them. Our media need not fear political censorship when it wishes to address a serious topic. Our system brings out for scrutiny both the very best and very worst in a society. However, our nation has, through the crucible of history, remained loyal to the ideals of a liberal democratic system and made them work. The United States has undergone domestic strife, a devastating Civil War, conflicts abroad, countless economic and social challenges in order to perfect its Union. It is still an imperfect arrangement; bigotry and ignorance continue to impede our growth and progress as a society, but through the trials of our system of government, we have come far. We still stand as an example to the world that democratic systems can work, that an individualistic society can function in a way that respects personal sovereignty while still maintaining cohesiveness.
Our example still yields positive influence. One need only look to the tiny country of Bhutan. Bordered with China, it was an absolute monarchy until last year when it held its very first democratic elections, allowing for various political points of view to be brought into government. It remains to be seen how Bhutan will develop and if its experiment in democracy will find success, but it’s reassuring to note that such experiments still take place in a world where civil liberties and the idea of democracy in general are in some places, cast aside as secondary, trivial, or superfluous.