Democracy takes many forms around the world and the word is bandied around like a badge of honour. Americans use the word to define themselves, South Africans use the word to show what they have achieved, the North Korean government uses the word to lie to the rest of the world by calling itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In Taiwan, a democracy just two years older than South Africa, the word is used in two ways.
First, it is used to distinguish Taiwan from Communist China, thereby attempting to ally itself with other world democracies, principally America. However, while Taiwan's democracy looks very much like other democracies - its people do indeed elect their leaders - it has certain distinguishing features that set it apart from other democracies that I have seen, which leads to the second way in which the word is used. Democracy is used to institutionalize corruption.
One of my adult students once told me that Taiwanese expect their politicians to be corrupt, but as long as they use at least 25% of the money they take for the betterment of the people, then everything is fine! Those who are too selfish to share their corrupt gains with the people who elected them are dealt with by the law, like the mayor of the town in which I live, who suffered the indignity of being arrested and subsequently sacked for defrauding the town if about three million Taiwanese dollars, but hardly spent a night in jail.
Corruption begins from the start of campaigning when candidates and their volunteer workers visit the homes of voters, dispensing gifts like tooth fairies. Of course the higher the office one seeks, the higher the corrupt rewards, so when it comes to electioneering gifts, national elections provide the most extravagant gifts, like cash and other expensive items (none of which I have yet been fortunate to receive). For local elections, like town mayor or town councilors, which we are currently enduring, the gifts are more modest. So far, I have received three bars of Lux soap, three packets of tissues (with the candidates' faces and names on the packets), two notebooks (with the candidates faces and names on the covers), a packet of three pens (with no face or name on the packet, but which came with one of the packs of tissues aforementioned) and a blue raincoat (emblazoned on the back with an outline of Mickey Mouse's head and the words Mickey Mouse below it).
As I looked at the raincoat, the thought occurred to me that it might have been more appropriate to replace Mickey's name with that of the candidate.
Dion Marc Delport
30 May 2006