(Second of three parts)
By Noralyn Dudt
No, democracy has not died. While it's flawed and failing in many parts of the world, it has been going strong in places like Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Canada and several others. While there are other nations that rank high on the scale like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, I would like to focus on just four at this time—ones that I am most familiar with as I have met and known people from these nationalities.
As I have mentioned in my recent article, the EIU has given high ratings to Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Germany.
Just what makes these countries unique? Geography? They are all in northern Europe—the Nordics they are called. Religious background? Eighty-five to 95% of their population are of the Lutheran faith. Monarchy? Yes, except for Germany, they have kings and queens but no longer ruled by them. Again, It might be difficult to gauge just how these factors influence their relative success but it's definitely worth taking a look.
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are constitutional hereditary monarchies. The king or queen is formally the head of state but his duties are mainly representative and ceremonial. King Harald of Norway wields no real political power. The Parliament Stortinget is the highest authority. This is also true for Sweden and Denmark.
As it is, socialism and capitalism are two main economic system used in developed countries today. Switzerland which is also a thriving democracy is a prime example of a capitalist country that has several socialist policies. Values that are rooted in egalitarian ideals such as wage equality, high public welfare spending, solid public primary and secondary education are the norms in these EIU-rated "top-notch" countries. The combination of well-educated work force, productive public and private sectors, and good management of natural resources seem to convey that these are necessary in achieving democratic goals.
Broadly similar among these countries is the mutual high level of trust between those governing and the governed in addition to strong welfare system, relatively low crime and low unemployment. Politically, they are in the center and are willing to make adjustments when needed. This absence of political extremism may also play a role.
And just how did these factors such as better sense of community come about? Did they arise naturally from their strong Lutheran upbringing and education? Did those two years of Confirmation classes in Lutheran churches at a young age play a role? Are those teachings so ingrained in their value system that they became the cultural norms and are carried on even if they are not what I call church goers? These are questions that linger in my mind as I had observed a Norwegian family who recently came to our church Emmanuel Lutheran and wanted their twin 12-year-old sons to take the Confirmation class. They have never been to our church before and they mentioned that they have not been church-goers. But somehow these parents upbringing made a "comeback". Moreover, several members of our church include friends whose parents emigrated from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. They tell me that in their parents' youth in their respective countries, Confirmation was a big step... one had to be "confirmed" to be a good member of society. And this is also true of Lutherans in America today. Confirmation classes are held in all of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America).
Martin Luther, the German Reformer who challenged the teachings of the Church on Indulgences (paying one's way out of purgatory) back in 1517 was a monk who was steeped in the knowledge of the Bible but questioned church teachings and interpretation of how people can be saved from the wrath of a judging God. He was a scholar and a student of Law and argued that we are "all priests" and that there is no one and nothing between us and God our Creator. We can read the Bible ourselves. To drive this concept of being "free" to communicate with God, he advocated the establishment of public schools and that's how public education got off the ground in Germany. It was such a liberating concept for the masses that soon found its way to neighboring countries in the north: Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
Steeped in the philosophy of Protestant ethics, the Protestants viewed work as the means by which they could be a blessing to others. And that "blessing to others" means thinking and doing something for the good of the community as a whole. Furthermore, hard work and frugality were thought to be the two important applications of being a steward of what God had given them. However, sociologist Paul Froese of Baylor University said that "People don't have to be Protestant to have this Protestant ethic. It has become so ingrained in our culture that it influences everybody." The Protestant work ethic is more than a cultural norm that places a positive moral value on doing a good job. Based on a belief that work has intrinsic value for its own sake, it represents a value system that contributes to the experience of meaningfulness while performing work.
This is not to suggest that the workings of democracy can succeed only in places with a Lutheran or a Protestant background. It has been shown that it can also succeed in places where there's a culture of discipline and societal unity like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea which will be covered in part 3 of this series.
(Noralyn Onto Dudt lives in North Bethesda, Maryland which is a part of the Washington DC area. It's a place where a diverse of cultures from all over the American continent and the world meet and peacefully co-exist.)