Myanmar: Striving for democracy, from within

The popular protests in Myanmar demonstrate the power of democracy. What they also demonstrate is how little the outside world can actually predict events. Conventional wisdom on Myanmar has tended to be that people are too oppressed and too afraid to stand up for democracy. In the last few days tens of thousands of Burmese have, literally, demonstrated otherwise. They deserve our support in their call for a true, democratic and inclusive national dialogue to build a better future for their country.

Last year, the popular uprising for democracy in Nepal caught many foreign experts and observers by surprise. Putting their lives on the line, ordinary people defied the conventional wisdom of political analysts that the demands for democracy had been driven by donor supported NGOs.

It has become a truism to state that democracy cannot be imposed from abroad but has to grow from within. The Burmese and Nepalese people have given meaning to that statement. While people who strive for democracy deserve the full support of the international community, support should be provided in a way that is actually helpful. Too aggressive posturing by international actors can be counterproductive: At times, it has been made too easy for autocrats to untruly claim that democracy movements are agents of foreign forces.

The important questions of whether external assistance works, and what kind of assistance works, are at the heart of a recent International IDEA publication presented in this newsletter. The challenge of evaluating democracy support can seem overwhelming: democracy is a long-term, complex and inherently nationally and locally owned process. Against the backdrop of some spectacular failures in democracy promotion it is still important to ask critical questions of what international actors can do, should do -- and should not do.

Evaluation of democracy support can provide important learning for international actors to do better. Even more important is the learning we can draw from national actors who, by courage and knowledge, have promoted and built democracy in their own country. There is a rich diversity of democratic practices worldwide to draw on. More needs to be done to capture and compile these experiences, not least from the global south. Better knowledge of what has worked in a variety of contexts can serve to inspire those who strive for democracy, in Burma and elsewhere.

Vidar Helgesen

Secretary-General, International IDEA