The right to vote is just a start
More than 1 billion people, most of them Asians, will vote this year in a democratic pageant that is unprecedented in human history. The parade to the ballot box began last weekend in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin won a second term in office. The march continues this Saturday in Taiwan and a day later in Malaysia.
After that, the celebration of democracy continues in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, India, the Philippines - and that is only until May.
It is a heady time for democrats. But pictures from South Korea last weekend - photos of legislators being dragged from the podium - have tempered my enthusiasm. Those scenes recalled similar moments in Taiwan, where parliamentarians attacked each other in the National Assembly.
In most places where democracy is in place, the system is far from perfect.
A good number of America's China watchers have been worried about what President Chen Shui-bian is willing to do to win this weekend's vote. After pushing the envelope far enough to be censured by US President George W. Bush last year, Mr Chen has toned down his rhetoric, but a close race could push him to the edge in the final days before the ballot.
Indonesia's politicians are likely to continue to soft-pedal the threat posed by Islamic extremism in their country, to court the Muslim vote. Given the government's reluctance to tackle that threat - it took two horrific bombings to galvanise the authorities and, even today, the response is uneven - the concern is real
Money dominates the democratic process around the world. India - proud to call itself 'the world's largest democracy' - is tainted by widespread vote-buying. Allegations of illegal campaign finance tricks are levelled almost every week in Japan and South Korea.
The victories of movie stars and other inexperienced individuals seemingly confirm charges that elections are mere popularity contests for voters incapable of being informed and responsible citizens.
In some cases, the defence is that these are 'immature democracies'. Japan had similar brawls in the Diet at that stage in its democratic evolution, they say. Maybe. But that does not work when it comes to 'money politics'.
The US - a mature democracy if ever there was one - can hardly be called an exemplar. The cost of financing an election has reached astronomical levels: Mr Bush will tap a war chest estimated to reach $200 million this year, and that does not include funds spent on his behalf by 'independent' sources.
In the US, it is almost impossible to defeat an incumbent president. Not only does it provide a fund-raising advantage, but politicians are increasingly fixing district boundaries in ways that guarantee re-election. That effectively denies voters a choice, and that can hardly be called democracy.
These are sobering thoughts as the democratic parade commences in this part of the world and as the US-led coalition tries to install democracy in Iraq.
All too often, I hear that some cultures are just not ready for democracy; or worse, that elections and all that hullabaloo are distractions for countries that need to focus on development. Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew is the most famous supporter of that line, but it has been echoed by China's leaders.
Those assertions are troubling. Messy as democracy is, it is hard for me to defend the idea that others do not deserve the rights I enjoy. And then there is that little detail: those freedoms are enshrined in the UN charter, to which all governments subscribe.
Democracy alone - namely, the right to vote - is clearly not the answer. An educated electorate is part of the process. The rule of law is also vital, and an integral part of that legal infrastructure is human rights that ensure that individual voices are protected and heard.
Even authoritarians who focus on development are going to have to acknowledge basic human rights. Information technologies have changed the relationship between citizen and state. Whole publics cannot be isolated.
On a recent flight, I sat next to a successful Chinese businessman who argued passionately that developing countries need authoritarian leaders if they are to succeed. He does business in Shanghai, but now carries a US passport. He voted with his feet. Governments have to acknowledge that tendency or risk losing such vital human assets.
Brad Glosserman is director of research at Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based think-tank