Outlook for democracy and democratic institutions

If countries are not ready for democracy until they have a well-developed civil society, which can take many years to develop, then we need to identify its essential elements, so that their development can be directly encouraged in new democracies. It is argued here that autonomously elected local governments are the essential elements of civil society. A theory of the foundations of the state should begin by recognizing that states are established by leaders. Both to win power and to wield it, a leader needs an ability to make credible long-term promises of future rewards. For a successful democracy, we need that our democratic candidates should also have reputations for respecting democratic norms and for using public resources effectively in public service, and not just for reliably rewarding loyal supporters. Such reputations for democratic leadership can be generated most abundantly in local politics. In a federal democracy, successful local leaders can demonstrate their qualifications to compete for higher office. In this way, autonomously elected local governments effectively reduce entry barriers into national politics. It is suggested that Americans should never again elect anybody president who has not served responsibly in some lower public office under our constitutional system of government. © 2021, National Association for Business Economics.