Democracy Promotion

Shadi Hamid is guest blogging about Egypt's election and the shaping of U.S. foreign policy at Democracy Arsenal. The "emerging consensus" on democracy promotion is that Islamist groups must be included in the political process. Fine. Democracy may not come by itself but it aint rocket science either - most people can understand the basic principles. A good starting point is Alexis de Tocqueville. From there on, any library has miles of literature on theories of democracy. And that’s in addition to tons of books on comparative politics; a treasure to those interested in all other countries experience of democracy. It is not the theory that has to be changed, it is those who are about to practice it.