Democratic reform has its limits

The Arab Spring forced authoritarian regimes to give up power in some North African countries. The Islamic political powers in the region and the Middle East were the biggest winners after years of hibernation. To some extent, Islam was awakened in the Arab Spring, says an editorial of People's Daily. Excerpts:

There is a historical necessity for Islam's resurgence. For years there were no opposition parties in the authoritarian countries. But the Islamic powers survived in various forms. The Islamic organizations have a clear ideology and are well-organized. They have built good social-assistance and welfare systems. That's why these organizations have so much support from people in the middle and lower social strata.

The so-called democratic transformation has provided the Islamic organizations the opportunity to translate their potential influence into real power. In return, they got disadvantaged people to participate in politics. Western democracy brings Islam to power, which is habitually portrayed in some developed countries as the enemy of democracy.

The purpose of democratic reform is to develop the country better and bring more benefits to the people. But reform can also bring the opposite effect if the reform is carried out at the wrong time or without some necessary conditions.

The prosperity of Western developed countries is the result of years of development and reforms, but not solely based on their democratic politics. If developing countries lay all their dreams of national development on democracy while ignoring those countries' practical national conditions, democratic reform will probably take the countries in the opposite direction.

The disappointment of the people in relevant countries after the Arab Spring is justified because the costs of the reform, or revolution, are much higher than its benefits. In the initial stage of national development, collectivism is much more efficient than individualism. The transformation from non-democracy politics to democracy should come naturally step by step along with the development of the country. And democracy should exist in different forms in different countries. Pushing a nation too hard to democracy does no good to the people at all.