World over, there has been a trend towards western liberal democracy with its guarantee of liberties, individual rights and a free market economy. The proponents of liberal democracy have argued for its universality hailing it as final stage of that all regimes would arrive at- the triumph of western liberal democracy. Francis Fukuyama describes it as ‘End of History’ because there would be no further change in political regimes.
However, this is not the actual case. To believe the end of history, one would have to assume that there is no alternative political system of western liberal democracy- such as East Asian and Islamic regimes.
The Islamic system is based on embracing the religious ideology as a complete ‘way of life’ and to integrate those religious ideals in the private, social, economic and political lives thereby forming a complete Islamic regime by having distinctive political, economic and cultural factors. This regime also has the Shar’iah law to maintain social order.
The East Asian regimes follow the ideals of the Confucianism which believe in the sanctity of the family and state and on orthodox ideas of respect, loyalty and virtue. Confucianism, similar to the Islamic regime, is not just a set of ideals and beliefs but a way of life that governs both private and public spheres of life, therefore classifying as a regime.
These alternative regimes challenge the universality of the liberal democracy. This shows liberal democracy is not the final form of all the regimes and this is not the end of the history. Different ideas exist in different parts of the world on which alternative systems are based. As the world progresses, news ideas develop and different regimes emerge therefore history would continue its march.
However, this is not the actual case. To believe the end of history, one would have to assume that there is no alternative political system of western liberal democracy- such as East Asian and Islamic regimes.
The Islamic system is based on embracing the religious ideology as a complete ‘way of life’ and to integrate those religious ideals in the private, social, economic and political lives thereby forming a complete Islamic regime by having distinctive political, economic and cultural factors. This regime also has the Shar’iah law to maintain social order.
The East Asian regimes follow the ideals of the Confucianism which believe in the sanctity of the family and state and on orthodox ideas of respect, loyalty and virtue. Confucianism, similar to the Islamic regime, is not just a set of ideals and beliefs but a way of life that governs both private and public spheres of life, therefore classifying as a regime.
These alternative regimes challenge the universality of the liberal democracy. This shows liberal democracy is not the final form of all the regimes and this is not the end of the history. Different ideas exist in different parts of the world on which alternative systems are based. As the world progresses, news ideas develop and different regimes emerge therefore history would continue its march.
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