Comment: In love of democracy
24 Jul 2010, 5:26 PM
Sextus Empiricus
Recent political developments not only confirm that democracy certainly is not ‘the only game in town’ – which is the simple test of consolidated democracy according to political scientists Alfred Stepan and Juan Linz – but also make one doubt whether there has been a completed democratic transition in the Maldives.
Two issues – the increasing inability of the government to generate new policies, and the de jure and de facto sharing and blurring of the powers of the executive with those of the legislature – put into question the transition to democracy.
‘Cash for votes’ in the parliament, the failures of the judiciary, reaction from government to predatory politics, the inaction of the civil society, the unreflective ‘political society’ polarized between two violent tribes, show that games from the authoritarian era can still be the favourites in town.
Failure of institutions VS human failure
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