HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031893.jpg
2.47 MB
Extraction Summary
2
People
1
Organizations
2
Locations
0
Events
0
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Policy essay / article page (congressional oversight record)
File Size:
2.47 MB
Summary
This document appears to be page 18 of a policy paper or essay regarding political theory and American foreign policy found within House Oversight records. The text discusses the complexities of promoting democracy, warning that democratic procedures do not always yield liberal governments and citing Napoleon III and Hugo Chavez as examples of despots using democracy. It metaphorically describes the US mission to reorder global society while maintaining stability as 'walking blindfolded on a tightrope across Niagara Falls.'
People (2)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Napoleon III | Historical Figure |
Cited as an example of a demagogue/aspiring despot who used democratic mechanisms to build a personal dictatorship.
|
| Hugo Chavez | Historical Figure |
Cited as an example of a demagogue/aspiring despot who used democratic mechanisms to build a personal dictatorship.
|
Organizations (1)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| United States |
Mentioned in the context of 'American foreign policy' and its 'conservative mission'.
|
Locations (2)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Subject of foreign policy discussion.
|
|
|
Used metaphorically to describe the danger and difficulty of American foreign policy ('trying to walk blindfolded on ...
|
Key Quotes (4)
"We know that demagogues and aspiring despots can use the language and even the mechanisms of democracy to build personal dictatorships (Napoleon III and Hugo Chavez, for example)."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031893.jpg
Quote #1
"hoping that the democratization of other countries will solve American foreign policy problems is a fool’s game."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031893.jpg
Quote #2
"we are trying to walk blindfolded on a tightrope across Niagara Falls — while changing our clothes."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031893.jpg
Quote #3
"There has never been a worldwide revolution of this kind before; nobody knows for sure how best to speed the plow."Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031893.jpg
Quote #4
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (1,918 characters)
18
must make room for the equality of the sexes and the rights of
religious minorities. Property rights must be rooted in law and
protected by an independent judicial system. While governments
have a role in the economy, the mechanisms of the market must
ultimately be allowed to work their way.
We do not agree among ourselves about the proper sequence of these
changes. We know that in the short run, democratic voting
procedures may not produce liberal governments. We know that
demagogues and aspiring despots can use the language and even the
mechanisms of democracy to build personal dictatorships (Napoleon
III and Hugo Chavez, for example). We know that popular opinion is
sometimes more nationalistic than elite opinion and that gains for
democracy do not always lead to more foreign policy cooperation. In
most cases, progress toward stable and peaceful democratic
government comes slowly if it comes at all; even if you believe in
‘democratic peace theory, hoping that the democratization of other
countries will solve American foreign policy problems is a fool’s
game.
Yet we also know — or at least we believe — that in the long run a
more democratic world is a better if not always a safer world, and that
it would be immoral as well as impractical to stand in the way of the
changes that need to come.
If we add the conservative mission of the United States to the
revolutionary agenda, the problems of American foreign policy
become more complex still. We are trying to carry out a vast
reordering of global society even as we preserve the stability of the
international political order: we are trying to walk blindfolded on a
tightrope across Niagara Falls — while changing our clothes.
The uncertainties and risks that surround us should not be
underestimated. There has never been a worldwide revolution of this
kind before; nobody knows for sure how best to speed the plow.
religious minorities. Property rights must be rooted in law and
protected by an independent judicial system. While governments
have a role in the economy, the mechanisms of the market must
ultimately be allowed to work their way.
We do not agree among ourselves about the proper sequence of these
changes. We know that in the short run, democratic voting
procedures may not produce liberal governments. We know that
demagogues and aspiring despots can use the language and even the
mechanisms of democracy to build personal dictatorships (Napoleon
III and Hugo Chavez, for example). We know that popular opinion is
sometimes more nationalistic than elite opinion and that gains for
democracy do not always lead to more foreign policy cooperation. In
most cases, progress toward stable and peaceful democratic
government comes slowly if it comes at all; even if you believe in
‘democratic peace theory, hoping that the democratization of other
countries will solve American foreign policy problems is a fool’s
game.
Yet we also know — or at least we believe — that in the long run a
more democratic world is a better if not always a safer world, and that
it would be immoral as well as impractical to stand in the way of the
changes that need to come.
If we add the conservative mission of the United States to the
revolutionary agenda, the problems of American foreign policy
become more complex still. We are trying to carry out a vast
reordering of global society even as we preserve the stability of the
international political order: we are trying to walk blindfolded on a
tightrope across Niagara Falls — while changing our clothes.
The uncertainties and risks that surround us should not be
underestimated. There has never been a worldwide revolution of this
kind before; nobody knows for sure how best to speed the plow.
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_031893
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