Promoting Democracy in a Postmodern World

I was in Kazakhstan not long ago, on a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist the Kazakh Parliament with its drafting of an electoral law. The trip was going smoothly until a critical moment occurred. I was working closely with a senior member of the Parliament, a wise and patient man who approached his work with great seriousness. I had just reviewed a number of provisions of the draft law and highlighted some choices open to his drafting committee. He looked at me gravely, pushing slowly aside with one hand the raft of possibilities I had been outlining, and stated with quiet firmness, “We want our Parliament to be just like your Congress.” Our eyes met for a meaningful moment as I tried to think of something to say other than the three words that had immediately come screaming into my mind: “No, you don’t!” I mumbled something to the effect that our Congress was in fact not perfect, that there was much value in exploring a range of ways to organize legislatures and draft laws. My host’s eyes narrowed as he lis- tened to my words, words that I knew sounded like evasion. The American expert has come all this way to say he has no model?

Among those Am...