The future of democracy and human rights - An overview

The post-Cold War period has seen a flourishing of democracy in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. But the euphoria is evaporating and disillusionment is quickly setting in as newly democratized states grapple with ethnic rivalries, internal warfare and corruption. This disillusionment with democracy is also partly rooted in its perceived failure to meet economic expectations. This article examines the problems with the Western notion of representative and liberal democracy and what happens when it is imposed on non-Western cultures. The potential for information technology to overcome the shortcomings of democracy is also considered. Democracy is also invariably linked with human rights and the article goes on to contrast Western and non-Western articulations of human rights. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd