The Challenges Faced by Resurgent Democracies: A Case Study in The Indonesian, Russian, & the Philippine Experience in their Bid for Democratization

Abstract

Resurgent democratic regimes face challenges that militate against their bid to institute reforms of democracy. The precondition upon which democratization will take place consists of the ruins left by the ousted authoritarian regime. “This includes the highly politicized bureaucracy, the culture of graft & corruption, oppressive policies & features that resulted to the wide disparity of distribution of wealth & power in the polity, and the ailing economy that translated into the general condition of poverty. This setting will be inherited by the transitional regime. While the transitional regime is left with the task of repairing the ruins of the ousted regime, democratization will be undertaken. The combination of the tasks resulted to subsequent problems in the stage of transition. Due to the unstable and turbulent character of transition, the threat of the comeback of the characters of the ousted regime is present. The need to quickly fix the economy leads to inappropriate economic strategy due to the pressures of western democratic-capitalist countries who provide the transitional regime financial aid. The detrimental bias of the people against democratic reforms is also apparent due to their disappointment and impatience for the results of such reforms. A new brood of the ruling class is formed as the people who lead in the ouster of the previous regime monopolizes key area of governance. The tendency towards a new dictatorship is possible given the avenues of power under the transitional regime. These subsequent situations will further confirm the negative attitude of the population against democratization. Thus, the bid for democratization is in peril. The ouster of the authoritarian regime will be meaningless unless the momentum of democratization is sustained. And unless the aforementioned problems are addressed, democratic reforms will also be meaningless. Therefore, the transition regime must keep in mind that the process of democratization to be undertaken must be responsive and tailored after the needs of the country and that attempts to democratize must include commitment to democratic principles & practices in order to ensure the success of such processes. The commitment must first be seen in the government through its policies and actions adhering to democratic principles. That way, the people will have faith and support in the reforms to be undertaken despite difficult experience. Finally, when the government is able to integrate its commitment to democratic principles with the aspirations of the population, the promises of democratization will be realized.