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.
