Democracy And Strong, Independent Institutions: Developing World And The Advanced World -By Abdullahi Hassan

It has been observed, that Democracy as a term and system of government is derived from the Greek words, namely “Demos”, and “Kratos”. Demos has the meaning of the people or audience, while Kratos has the meaning of government. This indicate that the people (society) form the government, they are part and parcel of their affairs, they participate in the decision making of their state. And it is little wonder that some prominent personals defined democracy as follows;

Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as a system of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Also, it is being discovered in teachable Lincoln Documents; an Annotated Transcript as follows; “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” Further more, some historians Interpreted Lincoln’s view on democracy as follows; Sean Wilentz a Professor of American History at Princeton University, examined the definition this way; “Lincoln connected democracy’s preservation with ‘a new birth of freedom,’ and on one earlier occasion, Lincoln appears to have defined the word ‘democracy’ in direct opposition to slavery”.

For Aristotle, he defines democracy as the freedom of every citizen. To him, it is a way of governing which depends on the will of the people. For Aristotle, he argues that democracy is not the best form of government.

Herewith, Democracy is about the people, “the people’s will” or resolution on when, where, how and whom to govern their affairs (affairs of men). The people have the legitimate and ultimate say as far as democracy is concern. Subsequently, democracy is not just democracy by term, it has its on features, which are the basic elements without which it become vague. Those elements are, but not limited to citizens participation, periodic free and fair election, accountability, freedom of speech, free press, human right, social equality, plurality of system, separation of power, judicial and legislative independence.

Democratic institutions are those institutions that oil the wheels of any democracy and advance it’s cause. Those institutions must be strong, independent and effective to enable democracy to thrive. Strong, independent institutions are the pillars upon which form the foundation for prosperous and well built societies.

Wherever democracy is being mentioned or practiced across the globe, there are some pertinent questions to be ask; is there separation of power between the arms of government? Is there check and balance? Are there strong, independent institutions that are functioning effectively, efficiently without the executive arm intruding, dictating, and even usurping there constitutional responsibilities?

The democratic malaise in most of the developing countries is that those institutions that are suppose to be the vital components of their democratic journey, work  independently, free from the dictate of the any individual or the state are being enclosed, control, and dictated for by the executive arm of government. These are institutions that are of paramount importance if democracy is at all “will of the people”, those institutions are the catalyst for the progress of any democracy. Institutions like, but not limited to, the electoral umpire/college, judicial and the legislative arm must work independently and be free from executive control.

It is little worrying in the advanced world, owing to the fact that they have strong institutions, and not strong men. You cannot appoint someone to head an institution and be dictating to him even at the detriment of the constitution base on your emotional choices as the head of the executive, that individual(s) would rather resign in deference to the constitution than to do the self-centered and emotional bidding of his or her principal at the  expense of the constitution. On many occasions, individuals at the advanced world differed with their principals on issues, policies, and decisions in deference to the constitution and their oath of office, but in developing world, individual(s) appointees of institutions would rather protect the office they occupied than demonstrating deference to the constitution of their nation.

For instance, a former secretary of Defense to Donald Trump between (2016-2018), James Mattis, differed with Trump on some issues, most especially the Trump’s Syrian policy, which resulted to his resignation in 2018, because his policies, ideas and pattern of operating are not in tandem with that of Trump. Mattis said in a statement published in The Atlantic: “When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution,”

Mattis, a retired military veteran, and esteemed Marine general whom participated in the Persian Gulf war, the war at Afghanistan and Iraq further asserted that; “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people, does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us, We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership,”.

A similar event occurred in June 2020, during the #BlackLivesMatter protest, the then secretary of defense Mark Esper move against Trump’s attempt to use active military men on the protestants, by citing that it goes against the constitution. Then Trump perceived he goes against his order, and he fired him. Esper chooses to defend the constitution of the United States at the detriment of his job. In a two-page letter to Mr. Trump obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Esper said, “I serve the country in deference to the Constitution, so I accept your decision to replace me”. Thereby the wide condemnation of his sacking by various individuals, including the Democrats and  National security veterans. For them, Esper is only defending his oath of office and the constitution of the United State.

One of those that condemned Trump’s action was Adam Smith, a Democrat and Representative of Washington and the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said: “President Trump’s decision to fire Secretary Esper out of spite is not just childish, it’s also reckless. It has long been clear that President Trump cares about loyalty above all else, often at the expense of competence, and during a period of presidential transition, competence in government is of the utmost importance.”

It is important to state that these individuals sacrifices their positions for preserving the sanctity of their constitution against all odds, and by telling power the plain truth, we need to start experiencing something like this in the developing world, we need leaders that will have respect for separation of power, independency of other democratic institutions, leaders that will respect the sanctity of the constitution, leaders that will surround themselves with those that will face them and tell them the truth in their eyes when they go against the constitution and the basic tenets of democracy, and not sycophants, bootlickers.

Trump attempt to use mob to stop the Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden on 6 January, 2021 meet stiff resistance by the strong and independent institutions in place. He tried his possible best to unlawfully remain in power and erode the public faith in democratic institutions, but the strong and independent institutions in place cut short his attempt to illegitimately remain in power through the back door.

Aides to Mike Pence told the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that; “Former President Donald Trump pressured his vice president, Mike Pence, to overturn his 2020 election defeat despite being told repeatedly it was illegal to do so,”.

Members of the Democratic-led House of Representatives select committee also said  that, “Trump continued his pressure campaign even though he knew a violent mob of his supporters was threatening the Capitol as Pence and lawmakers met to formally certify President Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 election. Indeed, this is the original idea of democracy where there are strong and independent institutions, and it is little wonder they are were able to stop a single or few individuals from unlawfully staying in power.

The sad reality is the developing world and Africa specifically are not at all ready to face this tragedy. It is a situation where some leaders (executive arm) control almost all the  democratic institutions, they design their constitution(s) without time limit, they control both the judicial and the legislative arm, no check and balance, they clampdown on opposition at slightest provocation. They rig themselves into power through  those institutions that are meant to be independent and for the conduct of free and  fair election. As Valary Mumbo and Tari Wills argues; “African citizens support democratic governance. However, systemic flaws, blatant disregard for democratic processes, and institutional checks and balances remain commonplace across the continent”.

It is believe that, in some instances, the chairmen or head(s) of electoral management entities are been appointed solely by the head of the executive arm, thereby appointing their cronies into such sensitive positions to do their bidding. We have a situation where state governor’s are those recommending individual(s) card carrying members of their party, and cronies to the President(s) for them to be appointed as Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) in their various state’s. How on earth do you expect strong and independent institution here?  How do you expect the original idea democracy, fair play with this? You don’t just copy and paste a system, you have to abide and go with the tenets of that particular system you are practicing, among which is strong and independent of institutions with check and balances.

It is now even becoming a norm for the executive arm to decide whom to become the leader(s)  (heads)of the parliament (legislative branch), and also dictating their day to day legislative functions. The judiciary is not also immune from the executive arm coercive tendencies, there were wide allegations of politicians trying to influence judgments, verdict’s, or even the ruling party dictating to the judiciary on cases, which is a very sad situation indeed in the developing world.

As former President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete, delivers a statement during the opening plenary of the Drive for Democracy Conference: “The judiciary is a key democratic institution that offers citizens and institutions a direct opportunity to challenge and check other arms of government. It is central to the preservation of the values and processes of the state. However, in several African countries, the judiciary is perceived as an elitist body, riddled with corruption. Similarly, electoral management entities are widely regarded as biased bodies in Africa, often faulted for inefficiencies with limited capacity to run credible elections. Apathy bleeds through society when elections are perceived as foregone conclusions. Conversely, independent institutions foster an enabling environment where regime change through peaceful and credible elections, respect for presidential term limits, and protection of human rights are the norm”.

It is a convenient conclusion to say that the original idea democracy anywhere in the world is vague in as much as the electoral management bodies are powerless to conduct a free and fair election, the legislative arm is cornered and powerless in regard to check and balances, so also judiciary as the key democratic institution is challenged, because the judiciary is the arm of government solely responsible for the preservation of the tenets of democracy. Indeed, without strong and independent institutions meant to be checkmating each arm of government, to play it’s own constitutional role without usurpation from other arm, then it is not democracy. Indubitably, strong and independent institutions were being able to stop leaders from illegitimately and unlawfully staying in power, even individuals have to sacrifice their positions in deference to their constitution, indeed a lesson for  the developing world.