https://theloop.ecpr.eu/democracy-must-not-be-a-distracted-caterpillar/ ECPR's Political Science Blog Sat, 19 Nov 2022 22:57:26 +0000 hourly 1 https://theloop.ecpr.eu/democracy-must-not-be-a-distracted-caterpillar/#comment-42883 Sat, 19 Nov 2022 22:57:26 +0000 https://theloop.ecpr.eu/?p=8548#comment-42883 I most emphatically agree. The concept of "The West" is nonsensical to begin with. Who is the "West"? ---- nobody gives any consistent answer. Even if there wer a consistent answer defining who and where "The West" is, it is irrelevant to the issue of democracy.
There is no single geographical area that invented or inherently possesses the copyright of democracy ---- its components appear in the history of every part of the globe, anywhere where collective decision-making has been practised --- from Buddhist Sanghas in ancient India to the elective systems of Native American tribes and confederations [see Muhlberger & Paine, "Democracy's Place in World History". 1993]
But, again, the historical locations of democracy are irrelevant to its value to human beings. When someone uses insulin in Seoul, it is of no consequence to them that it was discovered in Toronto, and when someone uses a periodic table in Toronto, it is of no consequence to them that it was devised in St. Petersburg by a man from a remote town in Eastern Siberia. And because the numerical system we employ globally for mathematics originated in ancient Nalanda, we do not proclaim that mathematics is the sole possession of modern Bihar.

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