The form
of argument in this presentation has emphasized several specific points: first, that the Asian values argument, as a challenge to the implementation
of constitutional
democracy, is exaggerated and fails to account for the richness
of values discourse in the East Asian region - local values do not provide a justification for harsh authoritarian practices; second, that the cultural prerequisites arguments fail because they ignore the discursive processes for value development and they are tautological, excessively deterministic and ignore the importance
of human agency it, therefore, makes little sense to take an entry test for constitutional
democracy; third, the difficulties
of importing Western communitarian
ideas into an East Asian authoritarian environment without adequate liberal constitutional safeguards; fourth, the positive role
of constitutionalism in constructing empowering conversations in modern democratic development and as a venue for values discourse; fifth, the importance, especially in a cross-cultural context,
of indigenization
of constitutionalism through local institutional embodiment; and sixth, the value
of extending research focused on the positive engendering or enabling function
of constitutionalism to the developmental context in general and East Asia in particular.
The
idea was to get into the thick
of the coming changes in the Middle East and turn Iraq into a nation friendly to the U.S. by ridding them
of a dictator and giving them
democracy, an optimistic vision based on the
idea of extending one's blessings to the less fortunate, in addition to geopolitical considerations.
Of course, the idea of extending peer review in some sort of scientific democracy is completely absur
Of course, the
idea of extending peer review in some sort of scientific democracy is completely absur
of extending peer review in some sort
of scientific democracy is completely absur
of scientific
democracy is completely absurd.