DISADVANTAGE/DEMOCRACY PROMOTION

OTHER IMPACTS

DEMOCRACY IS THE BEST WAY TO PROMOTE STABLE AND PEACEFUL FUTURE IN RUSSIA

Larry Diamond, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, December, 1995; Promoting Democracy in the 1990s, http://www.carnegie.org//sub/pubs/deadly/diam_rpt.html // acs

Chief among the threats to the security of Europe, the United States, and Japan would be the reversion of Russia--with its still very substantial nuclear, scientific, and military prowess--to a hostile posture toward the West. Today, the Russian state (insofar as it continues to exist) appears perched on the precipice of capture by ultranationalist, anti-Semitic, neo-imperialist forces seeking a new era of pogroms, conquest, and "greatness." These forces feed on the weakness of democratic institutions, the divisions among democratic forces, and the generally dismal economic and political state of the country under civilian, constitutional rule. Numerous observers speak of "Weimar Russia." As in Germany in the 1920s, the only alternative to a triumph of fascism (or some related "ism" deeply hostile to freedom and to the West) is the development of an effective democratic order. Now, as then, this project must struggle against great historical and political odds, and it seems feasible only with international economic aid and support for democratic forces and institutions.

THE MORE DEMOCRATIC A NATION, THE MORE IT RESPECTS HUMAN RIGHTS

Larry Diamond, Hoover Inst, Stanford Univ., 1999; DEVELOPING DEMOCRACY: TOWARD CONSOLIDATION // acs p.5

Indeed, the more closely countries meet the standards of electoral democracy (free and fair, multiparty elections by secret and universal ballot), the higher their human rights rating.

DEMOCRACY HAS A DIRECT LINK TO STEADY AND EQUITABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Larry Diamond, Hoover Inst, Stanford Univ., 1999; DEVELOPING DEMOCRACY: TOWARD CONSOLIDATION //acs P. 7

Indeed, statistical analyses suggest that "there is no trade-off between development and democracy," that "democracy need not generate slower growth" and that in the poorest countries, the level of democracy is positively correlated with improvements not only in per capita income but also in infant survival rates and life expectancy. Thus, while democracy may generate fewer economic miracles, it seems better suited to avoid or to correct disasters, as Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi observe, and also better suited to achieve steady progress in human well-being. Finally, while the relationship between democracy and inequality is also in dispute, democracies appear in the long run to respond better to the needs of the poor and the marginalized, because they enable such groups to organize and mobilize within the political process