Democracy is no sure thing: UN July 25 2002 The UN says gains made with the emergence of dozens of democracies over the past 10 years risk being reversed, with authoritarian leaders manipulating elections and millions losing faith in democratic systems. In dozens of nations, democratic culture - allowing room for political opposition, a free press and robust citizens' action groups - is failing to develop or is being stifled, a report to be released yesterday concludes. Human Development Report 2002: Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World also said that economic slowdowns in many countries add to a popular perception that democracies cannot deliver better lives. "Since 1980, 81 countries have moved into the democratic column and, indeed, some 33 military governments have been replaced by civilian governments," said Mark Malloch Brown, administrator of the UN Development Program, which published the report. In comments to reporters last week, he said that 140 of about 200 countries have held multi-party elections. "The concern is that one multi-party election does not a democracy make," he said. "The international cheerleaders for democracy have underestimated what it takes to build a functioning, properly rooted democracy." The annual Human Development Report was created in 1990 to measure the progress of nations not in dry economic statistics but in the lives of ordinary citizens. Over the objections of some governments, in rich as well as poor countries, it has increasingly criticised political chicanery, corruption and human rights abuses. Choosing democracy as its focus this year, the report concluded that although most of the world's people live in at least nominal democracies, in 106 countries political freedoms and civil rights are limited. The report will be available at www.undp.org. The New York Times Printer friendly version Email to a friend text | handheld (how to) membership | conditions | privacy Copyright © 2002. The Sydney Morning Herald. advertise | contact us