USA’s International Visitors’ Program
Exposure To US Democracy

By Gyan Rai

AT a function to mark the formation of the International Visitors’ Program (IVP) Alumni Society (Nepal Chapter) the other day, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, in his message sent on the occasion, observed that Nepal can learn many things from the United States which has championed the cause of democracy, individual freedom, human rights and the freedom of the press.

Premier Deuba, an alumni of the International Visitors’ Program, further said that the Program affords the Nepalese a glimpse of American history, culture, lifestyle, and knowledge and understanding about the largest democracy and the most advanced nation in the world.

This writer, who had the opportunity to tour the United States as an IVP participant early this year, can not but wholeheartedly concur with Premier Deuba’s observations. This scribe was one of the 16 IVP participants from 16 countries attending a multi-regional project on print journalism in the US. The programme was organised by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State.

During the whirlwind tour across the United States, this scribe not only got ample opportunities to interact with fellow American colleagues, but also with Americans from many walks of life. Each encounter with American counterparts in various newspaper offices was truly a memorable and an enlightening experience. So was the interactions with Americans from all walks of life. This could be true for the more than 400 Nepalese from many professional fields who toured the United States as IVP participants since 1953.

From amongst the numerous interactions with Americans in the Land of Boundless Opportunities, one thing that came out loud and clear to this scribe was that for Americans freedom, be it personal or political, religious or for the press, is very precious—and non-negotiable. When asked why, many used to have incredulous looks in their eyes and faces, thereby giving him the impression that such a query was either simply out of time and clime or too trite to ask an American. Meaning: freedom, to Americans, is as American as an American apple-pie.

Nevertheless, Americans’ intrinsic love for freedom was verily forged in the crucible of over 200 years of ceaseless struggle for one or the other freedom for the American people through democratic processes, system, institutions and civil society. In fact, the Americans’ non-compromising stance as well as pride in the wide-ranging freedoms that they are currently enjoying can be traced to the covenant agreed to by the Puritan pilgrims before landing on North American soil in the early 17th century. Hounded out of Europe for their religious belief and faced with uncharted perils in their yet-to-be established settlements in North America on the other, the pilgrims’ leaders, in anticipation of the forthcoming challenges, forged a covenant—the Mayflower Compact—on board their ships even while sailing to their new haven. The covenant was based on two premises: that of social contract and the belief that covenants also exist between man and man.

Successive waves of settlers from many parts of Europe to the eastern part of North America led to the establishment of colonies under British rule. Initially, these new Americans relied heavily on English common laws to govern themselves. But with the passage of time, these frontier-men, freed as they were by distance and choice from the baggages of European class-based societal fabric and trappings, evolved their own unique laws, methods and systems of governance. Although these often clashed with those enacted and enforced by the British governors, they did afford them ample opportunities to fine-tune their own systems of governance that, later on, stood them in good stead as they went about forging a nation state out of the then British colonies.

Gradually, they began to assert their rights. Laws which they perceived to be detrimental to their interests and implemented without their consent were criticised and resented. Especially those concerning taxes which Britain levied unilaterally to finance its wars in Europe. The tax on tea proved to be the proverbial last straw for these new Americans already burdened down by heavy taxes. This led to the Boston Tea Party incident. The subsequent British action quickly reverberated throughout the new colonies—and became the precursor to the Americans’ struggle for freedom that culminated in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This led to the War of Independence under General George Washington who went on to become the first president of the American republic forged out of the then colonies.

The Declaration of Independence, historians and scholars aver, not only laid down the foundations of American democracy but also elucidated the premises outline therein: that certain truths are self-evident, that people are created equal, that they are endowed with inalienable rights, that governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed and that the purpose of the government is to protect these rights. Interestingly enough, even 227 years after these self-evident truths were first penned by the erudite framers of the Declaration of Independence, they still continue to be the beacon lights for all advocates of democracy throughout the world—and the benchmarks for all democratic constitutions, systems and institutions.

As the newly created United States of America moved ahead with its democratic system of governance, other nations were watching—and waiting for its early demise. For, not only was the American system of governance too novel an experiment for them, but even the representatives of the new Union were having difficulties in governing the newly created democratic republic. The difficulties were attributed to some inherent weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation, said to be the very first constitution of the United States and adopted by all states in 1781.

Soon, initiatives to revise the Articles of Confederation got underway with the specific blessings of George Washington. In 1789, the delegates gathered in Philadelphia, instead of revising it, decided to draft a completely new document that they believed would meet the present and future needs of the new republic. It is said that the presence of George Washington ensured its smooth drafting and subsequent ratification of the document that went on to become the Constitution of the United States in 1787. The new constitution included the Bill of Right—of which Thomas Jefferson had observed "It (Bill of Rights) is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest upon inferences".

And from amongst the original 10 Amendments ratified and affixed to the new Constitution, the First Amendment—Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances—truly provides, protects and guarantees the freedoms and rights of American people and the press for all times to come.

As all know by now, a constitution, howsoever perfect it may be, does not a democracy make. What it takes to really make democracy work for the greater interest of the nation and people is a capable leadership coupled with truly democratic institutions, an independent judiciary, an enlightened civil society and a free press. All this, needless to point out, has been eloquently proved by the Americans’ tryst with democracy spanning over 200 years.

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