Fareed Zakaria’s observation of the proliferation of illiberal democracies is concerning. The push for democracy by the Western world on developing nations during the latter half of the twentieth century failed in many cases because the requisite political culture for democracy was not in place. Fareed notes that liberal values existed under the 19th century monarchies a century before the establishment of full democratic governance, is this is crucial to their success in the Western world. Forcing underdeveloped nations with different cultural values to follow a system they aren’t ready for is a recipe for disaster.
How, then, is democracy supposed to spread if not through shock therapy? The approach taken by certain Eastern Asian countries is much more sensical. Looking at Singapore, a country that has long been ruled by a dictatorship, liberal values slowly but surely have been developing under the regime, and with the recent death of Lee Kuan Yew, dictator of Singapore since the end of World War II, the strict one-party control of the country is loosening, allowing for outsider parties to participate for the first time. Singapore has remained exceptionally stable throughout this development, and the gradual changes that have been made do not result in military coups or armed revolts. Democracy should only be instituted if the people within a country truly desire that form of governance, and if this is the case, a slow democratization will occur. Otherwise, more authoritarian systems should not be detested if they succeed in allowing for their citizens a good quality of life and do not heavily infringe on personal freedoms, they should only be forcibly disrupted when a regime systematically perpetrates significant abuses of human rights.