I - 25 OCTOBER 6, 2003 > THE NEW REPUBLIC In "You Thmred to Me," for instance, he disciplined writing-not his most dy- songs in a more tempered version of the; moves down the scale in C major, making namic (This Year's Model) nor his most mellow baritone into which he has shifted! impressive-sounding augmented chords imaginative (Imperial Bedroom), but his for ballads since he crooned "My Funny, with small variations on simple triads. most conversational, his simplest. Habit- Valentine" on the B-side of a single in Costello has gone all mushy for augment- ually verbose, Costello barely sounds like 1978. Some of his old fans have belittled ed chords, which sound jazzy and sophis- himself here. Each song on North has him for trying to be Frank Sinatra, but the. ticated, and he is nearly as charmed by fewer than half the words of a typical se- classic pop singer to whom he is most in-, I the Dorian mode, which can have an lection on any previous Elvis Costello al- debted is Billy Eckstine, the original mu-, eerie quality. His mastery of these devices bum, and they are employed with uncom- sically adventurous jazz-pop vocalist with' is still developing; at points Costello's mon restTaint. Only once does Costello a bad-boy reputation and a throbbing. harmony is arbitrarily complex, not yet use Tin Pan Alley cliches, in "I'm In vibrato. I know Costello is an admirer of organic. Compositionally, much of North the Mood Again," and he does so with a the late "Mr. B" because I saw him sitting sounds like exercises, although that is to theatrical wink: "I lay my head down on with his mother and studying Eckstine in Costello's credit, in one sense. (He and fine linens and satin/Away from the madl- performance at the Blue Note nightclub' I are roughly the same age, and I find it hatters who live in Manhattan/The Em- in Manhattan sometime in the late 1980sl progressively more difficult to get myself pire State Building illuminating the sky/ It was a strange, grim evening. Eckstm& to do exercises of any sort.) That Costello I'm in the mood, I'm in the mood, I'm in while vigorous and in good voice, had has the wherewithal to try a new musical the mood again."lThe language is mostly fallen into disfavor and was struggling to! instrument and to learn a new set of skills personal and intimate, with Costello reclaim his lost glory. As his finale, hle0 is remarkable in itself, and the resulting assuming fewer roles than usual. He is fumbled through a pandering medley of music is far more interesting than hear- singing as himself, celebrating love and recent pop hits far beneath an artist With! ing him play "Pump It Up" for the jil- bemoaning its futility, and ruminating on his gifts-"Love the One You're With", lionth time. (Costello plays piano-in a the passage of time: "I never did what I and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," I remem-' manner so spare it is nearly absent-on was told/I trampled though the amber ber, and somnething else of that ilk, maybei two tracks of North, and his longtime and the burnished gold/But now I clearly "Gentle on My Mind." North may be a keyboardist Steve Nieve plays much the see how cruel the young can be." flawed effort, but its defects are aspira- same way on all the others.) Modulating his voice to accommodate tional, and I would rather suffer them. Lyrically, North has Costello's most the material, Costello sings his sedate new than watch another great artist go south. m. Amartya Sen I Democracy and Its Globail Roots Why democratization is not the same as Westernization. , i # F :; ::iStid:Ft f t: :: [ff~~~~~~ I. our tines. Democracy movements across raising income per head, and carrying out HERE IS NO MYSTERY IN THE the globe (in South Africa and Argentina institutional reform? It is also argued that fact that the iimnediate and Indonesia yesterday, in Burma and democratic governance can be deeply il- prospects of democracy in Zitnbabwe and elsewhere today) reflect liberal and can inflict suffering on those Iraq, to be ushered in by the people's determination to fight for polit- who do not belong to the ruling majority American-led alliance, are ical participation and an effective voice. in a democracy. Are vulnerable groups, being viewed with increasing skepticism. Apprehensions about current events in not better served by the protection that The evident ambiguities in the goals of Iraq have to be seen in their specific conI- authoritarian governance can provide? I the occupation and the lack of clarity text; there is a big world beyond. The second line of attack concentrates; about the process of democratization It is important to consider, in the on historical and cultural doubts about make these doubts inescapable. But it broader arena, two general objections to advocating democracy for people who would be a serious mistake to translate the advocacy of democracy that have re- do not, allegedly, "know" it.'The endorse-, these uncertainties about the immediate cently gained much ground in interna- ment of democracy as a general rule for prospects of a democratic Iraq into a larg- tional debates and which tend to color all people, whether by national or inter-: er case for skepticism about the general discussions of foreign affairs, particular- national bodies or by human rights ac-' possibility of-and indeed the need for- ly in America and Europe. There are, tivists, is frequently castigated on the, having democracy in Iraq, or in any other first, doubts about what democracy can ground that it involves an attempted im I country that is deprived of it. Nor is there achieve in poorer countries. Is democracy position of Western values and Western I a general ground here for uneasiness not a barrier that obstructs the process about providing global support for the of development and deflects attention Amartya Sen is master of Trinity College,' struggle for democracy around the world, from the priorities of economic and social Cambridge.He received the Nobel Prizc which is the most profound challenge of change, such as providing adequate food, in Economics in I998. I -I l . THE NEW REPUBLIC > OCTOBER 6, 2003 29 practices on non-Western societies. The economic reasoning as well as by political argument goes much beyond acknowl- ideas. The process of decision-making IN edging that democracy is a predominant- through discussion can enhance informa- ly Western practice in the contemporary tion about a society and about individ- world, as it certainly is.It takes the form ual priorities, and those priorities may re- of presuming that democracy is an idea of spond to public deliberation. As James which the ro6ts can be found exclusively Buchanan, the leading public choice the- in some distinctively Western thought orist, argues, "The definition of democra- that has flourished uniquely in Europe- cy as 'government by discussion' implies and nowhere else-for a very long time. that individual values can and do change CIVIL SOCIETY * INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY in the process of decision-making." FREE MARKETS * LIMITED GOVERNMENT HESE ARE LEGITIMATE AND All this raises deep questions about cogent questions, and they are, the dominant focus on balloting and elec- understandably, being asked tions in the literature on world affairs, and _ _LL_with some persistence. But are about the adequacy of the view, well artic- these misgivings really well-founded? In ulated by Samuel P. Huntington in The arguing that they are not, it is impor- Third Wave; that "elections, open, free tant to note that these lines of criticism and fair, are the essence of democracy, the e- C A T O e-- are not altogether unlinked. Indeed, the inescapable sine qua non." In the broader flaws in both lie primarily in the attempt perspective of public reasoning, democ- S U r R E 1 E to see democracy in an unduly narrow racy has to give a central place to guaran- and restricted way-in particular, exclu- teeing free public discussion and deliber- C 0 U R T sively in terms of public balloting and not ative interactionsin political thought and much more broadly, in terms of what practice-not just through elections nor R E V I E WV John Rawls called "the exercise of public just for elections. What is required, as reason." This more capacious concept in- Rawls observed, is the safeguarding of cludes the opportunity for citizens to par- "diversity of doctrines-the fact of plural- ticipate in political discussions and so to ism," which is central to "the public cul- be in a position to influence public choice. ture of modern democracies," and which In understanding where the two lines of must be secured in a democracy by "basic attack on democratization respectively rights and liberties." go wrong, it is crucial to appreciate that The broader view of democracy in democracy has demands that transcend terms of public reasoning also allows us the ballot box. to understand that the roots of democ- Indeed, voting is only one way- racy go much beyond the narrowly con- Coui Review though certainly a very important way- fined chronicles of some designated prac- of making public discussions effective, tices that are now seen as specifically when the opportunity to vote is com- "democratic institutions." This basic re- bined with the opportunity to speak, and cognition was clear enough to Tocque- The 2002-2003 Supreme Court to listen, without fear. The force and the ville.