Global roots of democracy

President Barack Obama in Ghana President Obama's visit to Ghana came as part of a focus on identifying and supporting ‘good governance’. Ghana and the United States of America are in a position to recognise and promote a shared belief in democratic government. However, as America lays no primary claim to democratic values, the relationship should not be seen as a teacher commending the work of his pupil, but rather as two individuals affirming shared values. Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah, former Ambassador to the USA, set out that Africa must work towards an equal partnership with America and, “move beyond the current donor- recipient relationship”. His focus was on the economic relationship as regards aid, yet the counsel is important politically. For too long and often to its detriment, democracy has been perceived as a ‘Western’ concept. The appropriation and rebranding of certain ideas as belonging to a particular ‘civilisation’, obscures the breadth of contributions to concepts such as tolerance and political liberty. Western hegemony and policies such as Bush’s neoconservative ‘project democracy’ have made the world forget the global roots of democracy. The first example of government by public discussion is often attributed to the Athenian Assembly of the 5th century BC. Yet some of the earliest open general meetings took place in the Buddhist councils, the largest of which was held in 3rd century BC by Emperor Ashoka of India. In his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela describes the democratic nature of meetings in his hometown, “Everyone who wanted to speak did so. It was democracy in its purest form”. Mandela’s quest for democracy was not an attempt to introduce western values, but rather a championing of principles from his own community. Accountability, civil participation and consent are core elements in African political history, thus the fight for democracy on the continent must not be misrepresented as a fight to import western ideals. As Alexis de Tocqueville identified, America has played a central role in developing the system we now call democracy. However, liberal principles should not be seen as or distrusted for being solely Western. What Ghana must look for, is a mutual recognition of a shared belief in democracy, not some sort of Western approval of her credentials. The USA has a longer experience of democratic governments and as the influence of Nkrumah’s time in the US showed, Ghanaian institutions can be improved by studying their model. However, this is how the US system must be viewed, one model of democracy. Though we can learn from US experience, African and Ghanaian governance has to be seen in the context of a global heritage of political ideas. Characterising the West as the augur of democracy and liberal politics sends governments to seek approval for principles that are just as much a part of African, Asian or Middle Eastern heritage, as they are European or American. The USA is not the author of ‘good governance’ or democratic values. Ghana’s relationship with America must be seen as recognition between like-minded nations of what constitutes good governance. As Obama said, “I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world - as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children”. Author: Clair Bond