Capitalist Liberal Democracy and Human Government

Capitalist Liberal Democracy and Human Government

Introduction

The world today is full of liberal thinkers whether we admit or not. Everyone wants equal rights by various constitutions guarding these nations. Some of these rights are subverted due to the emergence of ethnic and religious conflicts which extends into denying individuals their freedoms. This can be witnessed in civil wars which encompasses both blood and cold wars. Many parts of the world witness this type of conflict (Diamond, 2014, pg. 87). We reject racial differences while cherishing the freedom of association and the freedom of worships. Nevertheless, there is the growing sense that liberalism is not delivering its prime purpose as anticipated in the developing world (Jackson, 2017, pg. 15). Liberal democracy, on the other hand, is the form of government which the representative democracy under the principle of liberalism in such a way that it protects the lives of individuals which are enshrined in law. Liberal democracy grants the individuals rights to vote regardless of gender, property ownership or race. Therefore regarding the rivalry, capitalist liberal democracy is still the most viable form of human government because it grants unlimited human rights and equity in the society.

When we think of the capitalist democracy, we think of great men in history who contributed a significant amount of knowledge towards enlightening the society. Such individuals include Francis Fukuyama, a renowned American political scientist, and economists (Fukuyama, 1989, pg. 3). His books such The End of History provided a more in-depth knowledge on why capitalist liberal democracy is unshakable and lacks the substantive rival theory of human government. In this essay, I am going to present various arguments as to why capitalist liberal democracy is still the most relevant form of human government in line with Francis Fukuyama’s thoughts.

Capitalist Liberal Democracy and Human Government

Capitalist liberal democracy is the universal power held by citizens and grants the opportunity to have a share of political power. According to Fukuyama, the capitalist liberal democracy ensures the citizens are granted the rights to vote and participate in politics without fear. As these rights are awarded to the citizens, there is still the need for these countries to identify who citizens are (Fukuyama, 1989, pg. 7). The identification or the definition of a citizen by these countries makes them qualified to offer the capitalist liberal democracy. Moreover, Fukuyama recognizes justice as a manifestation of liberalism in such a way that the political rights like the property rights and the religious freedom are the most forms and conceptions of liberalism. Nevertheless, Fukuyama doesn’t recognize the bone of contention between liberalism and democracy.

Sociologists globally acknowledge that there is basic strife between liberalism and democracy with regards to human rights and the other primacy rights. However, Fukuyama fails to recognize the tension which exists between the freedom and the democracy and he sees democracy and liberalism as natural counterparts (Fukuyama, 1989, pg. 4). He further suggests that if there is any rift between the two ideologies, then it is a theoretical construct. Though the ethnic and religious conflicts remain mayhem, the capitalist liberal democracy still wins the heart of a democratic arena. The capitalist liberal democracy grants the citizens the rights so that they also feel part of the ruling government and they have a say in any decision-making. They have the rights to vote and choose leaders who are sound mind to form the government. Nevertheless, as the capitalist liberal democracy becomes the most viable form of human government with no serious rivals from other theoretical approaches, it is still under threats from the issues like corruption in this 21st century.

The capitalist liberal democracy has gained relevance as the most preferred form of human government because is opposes the ideas of the totalitarian party system or the monarch. In his book of Life and Death of Democracy, Keane asserts that democracy that we know is time-bound and that it is not a way of doing politics that has always been with the humanity for decades (Keane, 2009, pg. 8). Through his book, Keane sets the awareness of the brittle contingency of democracy at times of mounting disagreements about its suitability and desirability. He defines democracy as the political system which the people govern themselves lawfully or through their representatives rather than being governed by military or totalitarian parties. From his definition of democracy, there exists a link to the capitalist liberal democracy since they all talk about how best the human government can be delivered by expression of the utmost freedom of the citizens. Therefore, in line with Fukuyama’s thoughts, Keane also presents an argument that the democracy we experience today is the most applicable form of human government because the powers to govern are squarely vested on the hands of the citizens (Keane, 2009, pg. 10). Therefore, ideally, it becomes difficult for any form of governance or any ideologies to replace the capitalist liberal democracy. The fact that all powers to govern are vested in the voter’s hands makes this approach to human government attract relevancy better than the associated theories.

The emergence of political stability depends on the confluence of circumstance and how the political orders are susceptible to decay once obtained. In this book, Fukuyama outlines the states of building a nation which is also vested in the rule of law and political accountability (Runciman, 2017, pg. 12). The accountability poised in this book adds to the million advantages why the capitalist liberal democracy is the hot cake form of human government despite the fact that religious and ethnic conflicts still exist. Fukuyama builds on an argument in this book that the political order is something which typically evolves over the years with state-building preceding the rule of law and the political accountability.

The citizens of any country will be happy with the accountable, a government which responsible and subject to scrutiny by the established tribunals (Billig, 1995, pg. 11). The fact that in a democratic state, any government official can be answerable to any wrongdoings makes the capitalist liberal democracy the most preferred form of human government. Several scholars have postulated arguments which seek to demean the effects of this type of democracy with little efforts. This firm stand taken by the capitalist liberal democracy wins many nations hearts. Any government established to govern the people while the respect to the rule of law is at the forefront must exhibit this form of human government. The citizens will feel they are equally important since they will be engaged in fundamental decision makings.

Democracy is key to the development of any nation and consequently leads to the full establishment of a government. In his book the Political Order and Political Decay, Fukuyama argues that countries or governments which are not fully established are most likely to experience economic challenges emanating from corruption (Fukuyama, 2014, pg. 47). Additionally, he argues that the unstable states are most likely comprised of individuals who would like to use the power invested in them by the citizens for selfish gains. This threatens the economic empowerment of the voters and consequently, low levels of development as witnessed in some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to Fukuyama, the Sub-Saharan Africa experience of colonialism and the absence of the pre-colonial native state structures put these countries at a disadvantage relative to that of East Asian states. The absence of the precolonial exposure among the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa explains why there the lower levels of developments compared to the states in Europe (Fukuyama, 2014, pg. 47). During the pre-colonial era, the rule of law only applied to the subjects but not the colonizers. As a result, there was the infringement of human rights, and this did not go well with the native Africans. Fukuyama postulates that the current developments in the African states are due to the revolution in the quest for the capitalist liberal democracy. Most of the African political reformers and the civil society activists have been in constant fights against the persistent patterns of clientelism and neo-patrimonial rule to attain the capitalist liberal democracy. Therefore, the capitalist liberal democracy opens avenues for developments because people own the powers over the electorates.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Fukuyama and the other proponents of capitalist liberal democracy have provided a blueprint for the minority in the society who have the rights to vote but no powers to control resources (Diamond, 2015, pg. 7). Even though there are still ethnic and religious conflicts, the capitalist’s liberal democracy experiences very little opposition in the democratic society. It remains the most useful form of human government which every democratic state seeks to emulate (Diamond, 2015, pg. 12). In this regard, Fukuyama throughout this work champions for the capitalist’s liberal democracy in which he proposes is the only way to save the oppressed in the society. This approach also takes into consideration the respect to the rule of law which occasionally is formed to govern the people.

Many at times, when amendments are proposed to the existing constitution, most leaders only focus on such changes for their self-political gains and the quest for power. Larry Diamond in his book Is Democracy on the Decline? Outlines merely the fact that the society is composed of greedy leaders who use power for their selfish gains. This approach by Diamond provides awoke regarding what the society should focus on to avoid such leaders getting to power (Diamond, 2015, pg. 13). Power for self-interests deprives a nation of crucial development agendas. This makes the capitalist liberal democracy gain relevancy in the fields of education and governance regarding political accountability. Thus even if the ethnic and religious conflicts exist, there is the need to have an accountable and a transparent government. A government which respects the rule of law and upholds justices the way it is delivered. Therefore, capitalist liberal democracy outweighs other forms of human government.                  References

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