Document Type

Article

Disciplines

International Law

Abstract

Events in the past few years in the former Soviet Union and in the neighboring states popularly known in Winston Churchill's phrase as the "Iron Curtain" countries have given the prospect of what is hopefully called "democratization." As those who live in these countries know all too well, however, the seeds of democracy are sown upon barely-tilled soil, essentially devoid of a nourishing history of republican self-government of the sort so long enjoyed, in varying degrees of fulfillment, in the United States, Western Europe and the British Commonwealth.

It is essential, therefore, to the realization of the hopes and aspirations for democracy that attention immediately be paid to creating institutional guarantees of the civil rights and liberties which lie at the core of true republican self-government. For unless these matters are sealed in the relative amber of institutions difficult to vary or evade, today's reforms will likely dissolve into evanescent impulses of good intentions and wishful dreams.

Obviously, each nation's choices must be determined by the special circumstances of history and what is possible that are peculiar to that country. Cookie-cutter models imposed indiscriminately upon all nations within this sphere could serve to make reforms as ephemeral in their effective lifespans as would the failure to create institutions at all.

Accessibility Requirements

1

Download

Share

COinS