Rice Professor Discusses Democracy at International Conference

Rice Professor Discusses Democracy at International Conference
BY PHILIP MONTGOMERY
Rice News Staff
March 26, 1998

An international conference in Japan on the growth of democracy and market
economies brought home to a Rice political scientist the difficulties developing
countries face as they establish democratic institutions and build market economies.

In early March, Sherry Bennett, assistant professor of political science, attended
a 10-day conference in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan, as a guest of the Japanese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.

"This year the conference addressed a range of topics relating to the
creation of democracies and how the often simultaneous development of market
economies may hinder or facilitate this process," Bennett said. "Many
policy makers assume that the United States’ model of democracy is the only
model to emulate and that our market is what all states should aspire to develop.

"That is not true for everyone. The third wave of new democracies may
have established the legitimacy of democratic principles, and indeed the pressures
of the modern global economy have induced many states to seize market economy
principles, but the political and economic institutions created in developing
countries and newly independent states will vary greatly. Transitions take time,
and states with different cultures, traditions, etc., will not necessarily adopt
similar paths nor follow similar trajectories.

"China is a good case. [An attendee from China] talked about how people
in China are happy with the progress toward market reform under a communist
regime. It is not democracy in the U.S. sense, but there are certain freedoms
given now to people to promote their own industries on a very small scale. I
didn’t know that was going on. I learned a lot about things that were going
on in different countries."

Bennett was selected along with three other U.S. scholars from Harvard, the
University of Michigan and Emory University. About 50 scholars from 43 countries
attended the conference. The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Japan, which sponsored
the event, chose applicants based upon their area of research, expertise and
proposals addressing the topic of democracy and the development of market economies.

In general, Bennett studies the politics associated with the initiation, negotiation,
and ratification of international economic agreements. She is completing several
studies examining the influence of import and export industrial interests on
the trade policy process and how economic adjustments to particular labor groups
influence Congressional support for free trade agreements in the United States.

The meeting in Japan was concerned with practical matters, Bennett said. The
conference was oriented toward a sharing of knowledge and the tackling of pressing
issues facing emerging markets and new democracies. Topics included building
market economies, promoting democracy, and fostering international cooperation
to achieve world stability and prosperity.

"It was very much a brainstorming session between people from different
countries whose countries are going through different [experiences]. Some states
are creating markets for the first time," Bennett said. "It was really
interesting listening to the experiences of participants from emerging markets
in Eastern Europe. Scholars from the republics of Kazakhstan and Bulgaria discussed
their countries’ experiences in creating security markets and a banking system
for the first time and the pitfalls of corruption that have hindered the development
of these economic institutions."

Bennett recalled one private businessman from Bulgaria at the conference who
was trying to promote privatization but was having a difficult time because
of organized crime and pyramid schemes. Most people in Bulgaria do not trust
the new banks because corruption is so rampant.

The academics from the industrial nations would "talk about existing models
in the United States, but [people from developing nations] would respond ‘The
Western model isn’t the model for everybody,’" Bennett said.

At times the discussions were "very different from the strictly academic
debates where people are presenting theoretical models, but not thinking about
the practical policy implications," she said. "Other times, there
were very lively free-for-all discussions about what democracy means, what it
means in the United States, and what it means in other countries such as Russia,
Southeast Asia, etc. … where democracy means something else."

For related information visit the following Web site:
Rice Political Science Department: www.ruf.rice.edu/~poli/