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From: orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: On Democracy:re to Lewis on History
Message-ID: <554@whuts.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Feb-86 08:22:13 EST
Article-I.D.: whuts.554
Posted: Thu Feb 20 08:22:13 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Feb-86 09:08:05 EST
References: <1234@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 40

> 
> ---------------------Reply to mail dated 17-FEB-1986 14:40---------------------
> 
> 
> >Michael Lewis says: 
> > 
> >> I submit that for democracy to be successfully implemented in a country, there
> >> need to be some long-standing pseudo-democratic institutions present.  I don't
> > 
> >2)we *did* successfully cram democracy down Japan's throat (to an extent)
> >  MacArthur installed democratic institutions quite successfully during
> >  the American occupation of Japan.
> > 
> >Please get your historical facts straight.
> >          tim sevener   whuxn!orb
> 
> Mr Sevener
> 
>    Get your facts straight.  Japan had  pseudo-democratic institutions they
> had been around for about 60 years before McArthur.  They had a two house
> parliament that was fashioned after the Germany governemt at the time of 
> Bismark.  I am not saying that it was a real democratic institution but it
> was at least a pseudo-democratic institution.  Don't jump down someone's
> throat before looking first. The Military candidates took over control of
> the cabinet much in the same way Hitler took power in Germany.
> 
> Brian Mahoney

That is a good point which is generally ignored in discussions of the
American occupation of Japan and democracy in Japan.  One must still ask
the question: where were the long-standing pseudo-democratic institutions
present 60 years before MacArthur?  At some point democratic, or 
pseudo-democratic institutions must come into being.  I do not share
either Larry Kolodney's or Michael Lewis' pessimism regarding the possibility
of developing genuine democracy in the rest of the world.
The present concern with human rights expressed by Amnesty International
and Americas Watch is an important step towards pressing for the
minimum of democratic civil liberties -namely freedom from arbitrary arrest
mutilation or murder.
             tim sevener   whuxn!orb