For democracy to function properly in a society, it requires successive activities and deeply thoughtful work to develop democratic culture. Democracy is not a natural phenomenon, rather its emergence and development is heavily conditional on conscious human intervention and endeavors.
On the other hand, culture is a universal and natural phenomenon for humans. While having democratic institutions in place or conducting regular ‘free and fair elections’ are imperative to democratization, what makes the process complete is the cultivation of democratic culture. Democracy is more about culture than politics.
This means besides the political activity, people need to practice it in their day to day lives. A sustainable democratic system is built up on the goodwill of the people to engage actively and voluntarily in the decision making process of what matters to their lives.
That is why it is said building a democratic system goes beyond holding elections and building democratic institutions. It also involves building those socio-cultural institutions that enduringly implant in people the values of democracy. No one can doubt the tremendous changes that are taking place in the country in terms of democracy following the reforms of last year which aimed at addressing the people’s questions of democracy and liberty.
The reform initiatives go as far as reviewing and amending laws and proclamations, and reforming overall structural set up. Despotic laws that are against independent civil society, freedom of the press and free and fair elections have been reformed or are under reform processes. These include the Charities and Societies Proclamation, the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and the election law.
There are also ongoing reforms in the justice sector, institution of the ombudsman and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. It is no doubt that the above mentioned bold reform moves have encouraged the public to actively engage in political and democratic discourse. But there is still one vital task ahead i.e. the continuous work of implanting democratic culture in citizens.
As never witnessed before, there is a growing tendency that people are starting to express their views democratically in demonstrations and rallies. The media is also free than ever before. Then again, though Ethiopia has now a government with genuine commitment to democracy, democratic culture is still lacking.
That is why amid all these positive developments, we are also witnessing conflicts that go as far as ending innocent lives. It is sad that such unfortunate incidents occur at a time when the country is filled with sense of optimism.
But one also has to ask the root causes of the problem. While there are other factors, one cannot deny the fact that such incidences, including those in higher learning institutions, are partially the outcomes of an immature democratic culture of entertaining differences in a civilized manner. Despite almost two decades of rhetoric regarding unity in diversity based on ethnic lines, it seems, meaningful work has not yet been done to change the mindset of the people in such a way that differences do not lead to conflicts.
Generally, democratic institutions will not function unless they are built on democratic culture: a set of attitudes and behaviors that emphasize dialogue and solving differences by peaceful means. In this modern age, democracy cannot function unless society members with varying views and backgrounds are willing to engage in peaceful dialogue, for which democratic culture is a pre-requisite.
Hence, the work of instilling democratic culture has to start at the grassroots level with schools and their communities, and should go up to higher learning institutions, civil societies and day to day societal activities. The media is also vital for the creation and the development of a democratic culture. Media outlets need to encourage the public discussions of common issues of interest. Since the reform, the country is on the right track to strengthen its democratic institutions and restore trust in the system. The trick is to turn this initiative into developing strong democratic culture.
The Ethiopian Herald, December 6/2018
