Democracy After a Regime

Democracy after a Regime Harrison Goodrich

The role-playing lesson in class gave us a first hand perspective about how difficult it is to establish and structure a democracy after overthrowing an authoritarian regime. The opposing factions and different values led to arguing and a slow decision making process and without a clear leader there was no progress. The difficult part of restoring democracy in Athens was not the removal of the 30 Tyrants, who were in power for less than a year. All it took were concerned citizens and a powerful leader to overthrow the 30 Tyrants. “They were overthrown by an army of exiled Athenian democrats led by the Athenian general, Thrasybulus.” A comparable issue in the modern world is establishing democracy in Iraq after the overthrowing of the dictator Saddam Hussein. Like the Athenian’s under the 30 Tyrants, Iraqis were under the thumb of an oppressive, tyrannical ruler.

In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq to controversially search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that were allegedly in the possession of a ruthless dictator. After Saddam Hussein was taken out of power came the challenge of establishing democracy in a country with no history of it. The major difference between post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and post-30 Tyrant Athens, is that the Athenian people wanted to establish democracy. “Athens fostered its democratic growth by overthrowing the social and political restraints associated with a monarchical system, in exchange for a system that nurtured individuality.” Athenians knew that establishing democracy was essential to the growth and sustainability. The situation in modern Iraq is a different story entirely. “The inability of a government to be formed after the March 7, 2010, parliamentary elections bodes ill, not just for the prospects for democracy, but even for stability in Iraq.” Saddam Hussein was executed in 2006 and Iraq still does not have a strong government nor democracy. Without heavy intervention from concerned countries it is unlikely that Iraq will establish a lasting democracy in the future.

We learned from the Athenians that establishing democracy is not an easy task after taking out an authoritarian regime. The ability to remove oppressive rulers is up to the will of the people. Establishing democracy can also be linked to the will of the people. The Athenians had a history of democracy and knew they needed to re-establish it to create a lasting Athens. Whereas,  in the case of Iraq, there was no history of democracy and the citizens didn’t show a strong enough desire to pursue it. To attain democracy the citizens have to pursue it.

LeCaire, Lucas D., “Tyranny and terror: the failure of Athenian democracy and the reign of the Thirty Tyrants” (2013). EWU Masters Thesis Collection. 179

.J. Peter Euben, John Wallach, and Josiah Ober, eds., Athenian Political Thought and the Reconstruction of American Democracy ( Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), 5-19.

 Kantz, Mark. The U.S. and Democratization in Iraq. Middle East Policy Council

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