non-western democratic traditions

There is a lot of voting going on at the moment - but some is more 'democratic' than others:

Russia’s Putin hails victory in election criticised as illegitimate | Vladimir Putin News | Al Jazeera

Vladimir Putin: why it’s time for democracies to denounce Russia’s leader as illegitimate

But should there be 'one way' to see democracy?

As Western leaders express their openness to differing models of democracy, non-Western democracies such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, and South Africa are beginning to consider how they can support democracy as part of their increasingly active foreign policies. As they do so, they appeal to non-Western democratic transitions and speak about the importance of different political models. As international democracy support becomes less a Western preserve, the substance of such support is likely to become less Western as well. 

The calls for non-Western democracy are loud and passionate, but seldom make clear exactly what non-Western models would and should look like. What actually distinguishes a non-Western from a Western model of democracy? There is a general sense that other societies want less individualism, more traditional social values, more economic equal-ity, and more consensual and participatory politics. But it remains un-clear how such desires translate into a distinctively non-Western tem-plate for democratic politics...

The principle of liberalism-plus is meant to convey the need to look seriously at non-Western ideas that give greater meaning to political liberalism’s core spirit of tolerance, pluralism, and accountability... Some variations will involve non-Western countries making choices that Western societies would not favor; other variations will be matters of Western and non-Western countries seeking to improve current democratic practices in relatively similar ways. Supporting the notion of democratic variation is not about moving regimes defined as “not democratic” into a category of “democratic” systems. Rather, it is about improving democratic quality across all types of regimes.

Exploring “Non-Western Democracy” - Carnegie Europe - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

With a few more thoughts here:

Can non-Western democracy help to foster political transformation? | openDemocracy

Indonesia, India and South Africa are also having elections this year:

2024, the year when half of the planet goes to the polls | International | EL PAÍS English

Elections tracker 2024: every vote and why it matters | World news | The Guardian

But, basically, the more democratic a country the less corruption there is and the happier people are:

New analysis of the latest World Happiness Report finds that democracies tend to be happier than non-democratic or authoritarian regimes.

Happiness and Democracy | Action for Happiness

Happiness is a Warm Democracy - JSTOR Daily

Does democracy make people happy? - SWI swissinfo.ch

Happiness, democracy and socio-economic conditions: Evidence from a difference GMM estimator - ScienceDirect

Ukraine and the future of human happiness — International Day of Happiness - 20 March

And there is a correlation between being democratic and being rich: 

All advanced economies' governments are not only large and complex, comprising thousands of agencies that administer millions of pages of rules and regulations; they are also democratic – and not just because they hold elections every so often.

Why Are Rich Countries Democratic? by Ricardo Hausmann - Project Syndicate

Ricardo Hausmann: Why Are Rich Countries Democratic?

If you live in a country with a per capita income over $10,000 – like Botswana – you are almost certainly to be living in a strong democracy. If you live in a state where the per capita income is less than $1,000 (and unfortunately there are plenty of African examples) you are almost certain to be living in a strong autocracy.

Which comes first – democracy or wealth?

Returning to the topic which started this piece, democracy is more than elections however:

Ukraine is fighting on behalf of all democracies - GOV.UK

Why the War in Ukraine is not about Democracy versus Authoritarianism | Royal United Services Institute

How Corruption Weakens Democracy – Transparency International - Transparency International Ukraine

Ukraine’s investigative journalists are facing intimidation – POLITICO

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