Does Eritrea Need National
Elections?<
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html>
<
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html>Eritreans
electing local administrators in Asmara, April 2014
<
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html>
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html#ixzz2zmPNeMvh
<
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html>There
is more to democracy than merely holding elections; if elections were the
mark of a democratic state, then it could be said that democracy flourishes
in Africa. This is clearly not the case. The assumption that representative
democracy is the answer to all of Africa’s ills has been an illusion
pursued all too often at the cost of those things that are the real mark of
a good society: universal healthcare, free education, security, and
equality. Nowhere are these best exemplified in Africa than in Eritrea.
Eritrea, which regularly holds administrative and regional elections, is
one of the most demonized countries in Africa largely because it does not
hold national elections. This vilification comes as the country is making
tremendous progress such as being on track to achieve
<
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html>6
out 8<
http://www.madote.com/2012/07/eritrea-on-track-to-meet-six-of-eight.html>
UN
Millennium Goals, reducing HIV/AIDS by more than half to
0.6%<
http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.country.8300>,
improving adult literacy rates to
80%<
http://www.madote.com/2013/01/eritreas-adult-literacy-rate-improves.html>,
and having one of the
fastest-growing<
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/09/these-10-countries-are-set-to-be-the-fastest-growing-economies-in-2014/>economies
in the world. Yet, none of these achievements seem to matter. The West, led
by the United States government, continues to criticize Eritrea for not
following a political process they themselves believe is the best.
Ironically, the U.S. isn't even a democracy, at least not in the
traditional sense. A new peer-reviewed
study<
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/04/16/The-US-is-not-a-democracy-but-an-oligarchy-study-concludes/2761397680051/>
from
Princeton and Northwestern Universities concluded that the U.S. is not a
democracy but an oligarchy in which the government represents not the
interests of the majority of citizens but those of the rich and powerful.
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites
and organized groups representing business interests have substantial
independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest
groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence,”
says<
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/04/16/The-US-is-not-a-democracy-but-an-oligarchy-study-concludes/2761397680051/>
the
study.
Although Eritrea does not hold national elections, that doesn't necessarily
mean it's against it, either. Eritrea believes developing the economy and
establishing a strong and educated middle class is a prerequisite for
holding national elections. This position, which is often dubbed as the
Chinese/Singapoore model, is now being backed by reputable economists as
the right model to follow for developing countries.
For instance, the renowned economist *Dr.* *Dambisa Moyo*
argues<
http://youtu.be/4Q2aznfmcYU?t=4m30s> that
the Chinese model of economic growth leading to national prosperity and the
establishment of a middle class is more relevant to the conditions seen in
the developing countries of Africa, and that the western concentration on
democracy as a primary goal is the wrong approach to the immediate problems
of lifting people out of poverty. Moreover, Moyo also explains there is
evidence showing a direct correlation with a country's per capita income
and how long a democracy can be sustained. Moyo
said<
http://youtu.be/4Q2aznfmcYU?t=8m40s>
:
“In a recent study, the evidence has shown that income is the greatest
determinant of how long a democracy can last. The study found that if your
per capita income is about $1,000 a year, your democracy will last about
eight and a half years. If your per capita income is between $2,000 and
$4,000 per year, then you’re likely to only get 33 years of democracy. And
only if your per capita income is above $6,000 a year will you have
democracy come hell or high water.”
The implication here is that priorities need to be clearly ordered, and
that building a nation upon democratic ideals come second to building up
the economy. What this study also tells us is we need to establish a middle
class that is able to hold the government accountable. With Eritrea's
middle class still in its infancy and with its GDP per capita only at
US$557, all national elections will bring at this point is division and
protracted instability. But there is one byproduct of democracy that
Eritrea needs to improve upon: its institutions.
*Sir Paul Collier*, a Professor of Economics at The University of Oxford,
did a study to see what was causing developing countries with abundant
resources to turn into resource curses. His study concluded that election
competition at the national level are having significant adverse effects on
development of their economies and resources, whereas strong institutions
made resource booms good.
"Now, there's one big change since the commodity booms of the 1970s, and
that is the spread of democracy. So I thought, well, maybe that is the
thing which has transformed governance in the bottom billion. Maybe we can
be more optimistic because of the spread of democracy. So, I looked.* Democracy
does have significant effects -- and unfortunately, they're adverse.*
*Democracies
make even more of a mess of these resource booms than
autocracies*..............It
turns out that electoral competition is the thing that's doing the damage
with democracy, whereas strong checks and balances make resource booms
good." Said <
http://youtu.be/VhAD0dMslB8?t=10m4s> Collier.
In conclusion, the days of thinking changing the face of the head of state
every 4-6 years will bring some
cartoonish<
http://youtu.be/vlIm-riMN6Q?t=1m32s>-like
prosperity to a developing country are over. Each political process needs
to be tailored to the country's needs, challenges, cultures and
demographics. Jumping the gun and demanding the country adopt national
elections without first developing the economy, and establishing a strong
and educated middle class is a recipe for disaster.
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html#ixzz2zmPWbOXy
<
http://www.madote.com/2014/04/does-eritrea-need-national-elections.html>
Received on Thu Apr 24 2014 - 01:45:55 EDT