The Foreign Service Journal, March 2004

democratic institutions and values, but is being forced by reality to make significant concessions. Before exam- ining this in more detail, it is useful to review the building blocks of “democ- racy” as we know it. The Architecture of Democracy The political system we call democracy has three major components: institutions, values, and a balance of political forces. The institutional design of democ- racy is well-known and seemingly easy to pass on to other countries. In a democratic system power resides in the political institutions, not in individuals — in the presidency rather than the president. Thus, power cannot be monopolized by an individual and it cannot be inherited. Competitive, open elections determine who occupies positions of power. As an additional guarantee against tyranny, power is not concentrated in one institution but divided among three sets of insti- tutions designed to counterbalance each other. This institutional design has been exported many times, for example, by the United States to the Philippines, Germany and Japan, as well as by France and Britain to all their former colonies. But in most cases the exported institutions did not take root — Germany and Japan, always invoked as examples, are notable because they are the exception, not the rule. The democratic institutions France and Britain sought to implant in their colonies before giving them inde- pendence rarely survived, with India being the most notable exception. Part of the reason for the failure of exported insti- tutions is the absence of appropriate values to under- pin them. Values are difficult to export because they change slowly and unevenly. It took the United States almost two centuries after the Declaration of Independence to institute full civil and political rights for all its citizens. But in the meantime, it had func- tioning democratic institutions. Separation of church and state, another fundamental principle of democra- cy, in reality remains contested terrain to this day in the U.S. Given its own history and present tensions, the idea that the United States can easily and quickly export democratic values lacks real- ism. But the most challenging problem for those who would like to see democ- racy become a major American export product lies in the political require- ments for democracy to flourish — in particular, the existence of a balance of power among countervailing forces. The United States has tried at times to alter the balance of power in other countries. During the Cold War, for example, the U.S. provided funds to anti-com- munist parties and supported friendly strongmen. More recently, it has sought to influence the outcome of elections in some countries by supporting social orga- nizations within civil society that purportedly aim at getting out the vote and monitoring elections but, in reality, try to mobilize voters against the incumbent regime. Support for NGOs and democratic parties helped defeat Slobodan Milosevic in Yugoslavia in 2000, for example. But the impact of such interven- tion is often short-lived, as the resurgence of radical nationalism in Yugoslavia three years after the defeat of Milosevic shows. The Challenge in Iraq At first glance, designing democratic institutions for Iraq would appear relatively easy. There is no longer an entrenched incumbent government to oppose reform; on the contrary, with Saddam gone and the Ba’th Party disbanded, the country presents an institu- tional vacuum ready to be filled. Furthermore, Iraqi political parties agree on the basic principles of elect- ed institutions and separation of powers. Contrary to the expectations of many observers, the most vocal champions of electoral democracy in Iraq at this point are Shia and Sunni clerics — above all Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has challenged the United States’ current transition plan because it does not call for an elected transitional assembly. Institutional consensus breaks down, however, on the issue of federalism. Few argue that Iraq should not have a federal system. But the United States and many Iraqis, particularly westernized former exiles, believe that federalism should be based on states that are sim- F O C U S M A R C H 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 Values are difficult to export because they change slowly and unevenly. Marina Ottaway is a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.