What Egypt now can learn from us
On Sunday in this space, we shared in the exuberance of the victory for freedom in Egypt but noted the nervousness we in the West have for the future of democracy in a region that historically has struggled with ideals we take for granted. That nervousness aside, it's also worth reflecting that the challenge before Egypt is to learn a lesson that runs through every issue of government that we in America and the suburbs face.
The beauty of democracy, in short, is not in the power of the majority. It is in the acceptance, the encouragement and the hope of the numerous minorities that abound in any large and complex society. Whether on a national scale or as local as the upcoming elections for school, town, library and park boards, democracy works in the West — and anywhere that it works — because minorities are not just tolerated and respected but have an equal opportunity for their message to be heard, to the point that theirs may one day become the dominant and accepted ruling idea.
Just two years ago, Democrats in America swept into power with the kind of voter majorities that justifiably suggested a “mandate” to do almost anything they wanted legislatively.
But in a working democracy, you have to use that word “mandate” with caution. While they managed to push through sweeping legislation on various topics, the changes Democrats wrought were neither easily done nor unilateral. And many of the changes they envisioned never occurred at all.
The majority party couldn't accomplish all it expected in every way it expected because — like how it participated or not — the minority party could not be ignored. Now, within just two years, Republicans who once had seemed so much on the wrong side of history today find themselves, if not in the driver's seat, very much a part of the process. That came about because of democracy, the ebb and flow that occurs because “the people” are not a one-dimensional body but a seething, constantly changing mass of individuals.
It is natural for governments to want to secure power. Witness the coming battles over redistricting in the Illinois legislature. But, in a democracy, it's also natural for “the people” to demand a hearing for everyone, which is why so many want changes in the way redistricting is done and why, eventually, those changes will come.
In a little over a month, “the people” of the suburbs will go to the polls. We'll make decisions about our communities, our schools and our taxes. Some of us will get what we want. Some won't. All will accept the results, and the losers will move on to fight for changes in the next round of elections. That is the challenge facing the people of Egypt. If the Middle East's newest democracy nurtures this kind of respect for all, it will show the rest of the Middle East, struggling with a notion of democracy that too often means simply majority rule, how it's done.