Short Essay on Spread of Democracy

We have seen how democracy expanded during the 20th century, especially after the Second World War. What were the reasons for it? It is generally said that democracy has spread because people consider it to be the best form of government.

Although it is true that democracy could not have spread if people did not prefer it and started struggles in their countries for its establishment, but this is not the only factor responsible for it.

There are many other factors also which helped the spread of democracy in many parts of the world. Most of these factors are related to the social, economic and political conditions internal to that country. It is often the outcome of struggles against socioeconomic inequalities in the country.

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Those people who suffer from social and economic inequalities and not having any share in power see a hope in democracy. They also want to enjoy rights, freedoms and privileges and participation in the government. That is why popular struggles in many countries have played a decisive role in the establishment of democracy in these countries.

Besides, external conditions and changes have also played an important role in the spread of democracy in the world. Notable among these are the Second World War, decolonisation and collapse of the Soviet Union. However, external factors help in the spread of democracy only when there are internal forces and conditions ready for democracy.

Recently some powerful countries in the world, particularly U.S.A. have taken on the task in promoting democracy in the world. In certain cases, powerful countries have even launched armed attacks on non-democratic countries. U.S.A. and its allies said that they attacked Iraq in order to liberate the people of Iraq from dictatorship and to establish democracy in the country.

Sometimes economic sanctions are imposed against non-democratic countries like Nigeria and Pakistan in recent times. However, this is not the right way to promote democracy. Infact, outside help works only if internal conditions are also favourable for the establishment of democracy otherwise, any external intervention is not very useful and sometimes it can be dangerous.

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Powerful nations, in the name of democracy promotion try to promote their own economic and military interests. Moreover, the use of external force to gift democracy to the citizens of another country goes against the spirit of democracy. The case of Iraq is a living example of this.