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Imposing Democrazy: Iraq And Japan

Both, Iraq and Japan experienced an occupation by the United States. After the end of WWII, US occupied Japan, a country that allied with the Axis powers. With the help of the American occupation, Japan moved towards a democracy. US also occupied Iraq and tried to move it towards a democracy after the Iraq War. US was successful in democratizing Japan, however, not Iraq. In order to understand why the United States was able to achieve what it did in Japan and not so much in Iraq, we must look at the definition of democracy and the process of democratization from several levels including international, state, societal, and economic.
Democracy is the least worst form of government; therefore, it is the best candidate for a new political system. Note that democracy is an ideal. It is important to point out the definition of democracy since it will help with the understanding of the different levels of democratization that is necessary. Literally, democracy means "government by the people. " Obviously, this definition is not sufficient. According to Schumpeter, "democracy means only that the people have the opportunity of accepting or refusing the men who are to rule them. " He bases his definition of democracy on the theory that most citizens should not rule because on most issues, they do not have strong views and when they do, they are not informed views. It is a minimalist definition of democracy that does not convey much and it is still insufficient. Deliberative democracy is based on a theory that democracy should be based on discussion. Democracy should be based on upon reasons all citizens can accept. All of the democratic theories mentioned above are based on a representative democracy. Another theory of democracy, states that democracy should be more direct, where people can participate directly and not through their representatives. These types of democracies go directly back to the literal definition of democracy. However, these definitions are more...