Being in A Flawed Democracy
Last month, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its finding on democratic practice in 167 countries. Four categories were presented: Full Democracy; Flawed Democracy; Hybrid System; and Authoritarianism. Electoral Process and Pluralism; Functioning of Government; Political Participation; Political Culture and Civil Liberties were used as the units of measurement in this indexing process.
Tiny European countries, Sweden, Iceland and Netherland, topped the list. While of the three biggest democray in the world (the US, India, and Indonesia), only the US was placed in the Full Democracy category while India and Indonesia were in the Flawed Democracy category.
One thing, however, needs to be reiterated here that the US, a country that has been preaching the world about democracy, was placed at a lowly 17th position in the list of 30 Full Democracy category. So much to talk about the American democracy.
India and Indonesia was placed at 35th and 65th position respectively in the Flawed Democracy category.
For me, I cannot agree more with the inclusion of India and Indonesia in the Flawed Democracy category. There are so much to be done in these two biggest democracy in Asia to be called Full Democracy. Even though India has an age-old experience of democratic life but with the score of 5.56 and 5.63 in the Political Participation and Political Culture in the indexing units, it needs to fix things up in its backyard sooner rather than later before being able to be included in the Full Democracy category.
Similarly, Indonesia, sharing the 65th position with Timor Leste, needs to improve a lot more in various areas to be able to consolidate its democratic setup. In this relatively new enviconment called democracy, Indonesia scoring an overall 6.41 in all indexing units. The lowest score Indonesia had was a lowly 5.00 in the Political Participation index. This number shows that in Indonesia, the citizen is not yet really willingly involve with all enthusiasm in public debate, elect representatives and join political parties, a requirement for a healthy democracy to flourish.
Without this broad, sustaining participation, democracy begins to wither and become the preserve of small, select groups.
Thus, this indexing by the EIU should not become something we need to get defensive about. On the contrary, it should become a strong wake up call for all of us, the citizens of the two largest democracy in Asia, to really work together for the consolidation and the full functioning of democracy. Afterall, democracy is a journey, not a destination.
But, can we make this journey more enjoyable?
Tiny European countries, Sweden, Iceland and Netherland, topped the list. While of the three biggest democray in the world (the US, India, and Indonesia), only the US was placed in the Full Democracy category while India and Indonesia were in the Flawed Democracy category.
One thing, however, needs to be reiterated here that the US, a country that has been preaching the world about democracy, was placed at a lowly 17th position in the list of 30 Full Democracy category. So much to talk about the American democracy.
India and Indonesia was placed at 35th and 65th position respectively in the Flawed Democracy category.
For me, I cannot agree more with the inclusion of India and Indonesia in the Flawed Democracy category. There are so much to be done in these two biggest democracy in Asia to be called Full Democracy. Even though India has an age-old experience of democratic life but with the score of 5.56 and 5.63 in the Political Participation and Political Culture in the indexing units, it needs to fix things up in its backyard sooner rather than later before being able to be included in the Full Democracy category.
Similarly, Indonesia, sharing the 65th position with Timor Leste, needs to improve a lot more in various areas to be able to consolidate its democratic setup. In this relatively new enviconment called democracy, Indonesia scoring an overall 6.41 in all indexing units. The lowest score Indonesia had was a lowly 5.00 in the Political Participation index. This number shows that in Indonesia, the citizen is not yet really willingly involve with all enthusiasm in public debate, elect representatives and join political parties, a requirement for a healthy democracy to flourish.
Without this broad, sustaining participation, democracy begins to wither and become the preserve of small, select groups.
Thus, this indexing by the EIU should not become something we need to get defensive about. On the contrary, it should become a strong wake up call for all of us, the citizens of the two largest democracy in Asia, to really work together for the consolidation and the full functioning of democracy. Afterall, democracy is a journey, not a destination.
But, can we make this journey more enjoyable?
blog by Ahmad Qisa'i, Ph.D at 10:39:00 AM
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