My Turn: Democracy is a work in progress

The Iraqi people now have their new constitution. As of this writing, the details are murky, but the results are promising. One thing is clear. The Sunnis participated, and that’s a good thing. For now, at least, they have chosen ballots over bullets.

We need to remember, though, that elections, whether to ratify a constitution, or to pick a new government, are steps along the way for the people of Iraq in their quest for some form of democracy.

We hope they succeed, of course. Success for them means we can begin to lessen our own presence in that strife-torn country. However, our previous experience in helping other countries make the transition to democracy suggests strongly that these efforts take time to bear fruit. For example, it took Germany and Japan years to make that transition.

Our own Revolutionary experience is instructive as well. We declared our independence in 1776. It took a long, bloody war to actually achieve the independence we had so boldly declared.

Victory over the British and their mercenaries at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 brought us de facto independence. It was 1783 before we gained de jure independence in the eyes of the world. Then we struggled for another 16 years until we had a viable constitution ratified and a fully functioning national government in place. Even then, it was still a work in progress. It remains so today.

Since 1789, we have had our own ups and downs along the way. The Civil War was a supreme test of the viability of our system of government. So was the Great Depression.

Democracy is a fragile flower. It must be planted on fertile soil and tended with care if it is to survive. As we have seen in war and peace, there is a dynamic, delicate tension between liberty and order in a democracy. Sometimes, as in the Civil War and World War II, our leaders opt for order over liberty for the greater good.

Post-9/11, we’ve all witnessed the swing of the pendulum in favor of order and security over liberty and individual freedom. Yet, we must remain vigilant in protecting our liberty, lest we succumb to a new form of tyranny, a subtle form of gradualism that chips away at our hard-won freedoms, all in the name of security.

However the situation turns out in Iraq, we need to re-dedicate ourselves to our own posterity as a representative democracy. This, I believe, requires both faith and a healthy degree of skepticism. We need faith in our system of government.

As Winston Churchill aptly noted, “Democracy is the worst form of government — except for all the rest.” However, we need to be skeptical of our leaders, lest we become a nation of sheep, blindly following them from one misadventure to another.

We also need a much broader definition of “national security.” For example, issues like the soaring national debt, illegal immigration, and out-sourcing of American jobs, are all threats to our national security. Nation building and nation preservation, like charity, should begin at home.

Thomas B. Vaughn is a professor at Motlow College and co-host of “Viewpoints,” a radio show that airs on WCPI 91.3 FM.