Summary of Primacy of Culture by Francis Fukuyama

THE PRIMACY OF CULTURE

Democracy’s Future –

Francis Fukuyama argues that for any new ideology or political trend to emerge that rival those of liberal democracy, it requires the precursor of developments at the level of civic society and culture. Accordingly, he sees the only civic society, and culture that seems poised to do so is Asia. Fukuyama bases his judgment on the claim that for the consolidation of democracy, there must exist four levels of change: On the first level is Ideology, followed by Institutions, then Civil Society, and finally, Culture.

At the level of ideological change, believes about the merits and demerits of democracy and its encumberent market structure, must first be rationalized. Thus, democracy is legitimized. Among the four elements, ideology is the most volatile, as change can occur practically overnight. However although ideology may change it does not guarantee the consolidation of democracy.

As ideology changes, institutions that are compatible to and necessary to execute the mandates of the newly adopted ideals are set in place. These may include constitutions, legal systems, party systems, and market structures et al. Although institutional change are manipulate able by public policy, its change is not as swift as ideological change.

Civil Society flourishes out of the existence of democratic political ideals. They however are less manipulated by public policy, and tend to be spontaneously created. Civic Society also develops more where there is less state control, and less where there is an exercise of more state power. For there to be strong civil society, there must first be a good cultural foundation of support.

Fukuyama correctly views culture as the deepest level of these four precursors to consolidating democracy. He defines culture as “a-rational ethical habit passed on through tradition.” Containing family structures, religion, moral values, ethic consciousness, civic-ness, and particularistic historical traditions.

What does all this mean? For democratic transition to occur, ideology must change to one of accepting democracy as good and viable. Institutions will also change to accommodate the new democratic ideals; ideals which in turn create an envir...

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...rican society- violent crime, drugs, racial tensions, poverty, and single parenting. Here Kwan Yew is adamant in his view that “ liberal, rights-based institutions have a corrosive effect on civil society and culture, and that democracy eventually leads to the breakdown of the social fabric.”

Author Fukuyama posits that ‘liberalism based on individual rights is quite compatible with strong, communitarian social structures and disciplined cultural habits. He suggests that it is only in the last 50 years that individualism has taken preeminence over community.

In conclusion, one must acknowledge that cultural factors do affect economic activities. However, it must be noted, that values vary from country to country in Asia. For example, kinship ties in Japan are weaker than those in southern China, and Confucianism is interpreted very differently in Japan than it is in Korea. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all have functioning democracies, and were the first to be industrialized. Singapore and Hong Kong have higher per capita incomes but are not democratic. The determining factors to influence the growth of democracy in Asia will be cultural issues and not ideologies.