Acemoglu om möjligheterna till demokrati i Irak

Det här var uppfriskande: Acemoglu tar till orda i debatten om utsikterna för Irak att bli demokratiskt, genom att såga standardidéerna om att det krävs utbildning och demokratisk kultur för att demokrati ska funka:

While the accepted theory [Lipset] claims that democracy will remain no morethan a dream in Iraq  until the Kurds and Shiites develop a culture ofdemocracy and the educational level of the Iraqi people  risessufficiently, the alternative maintains that instead these groups needto get enough out of  democracy that they have no incentive to undermineit or secede.

Fortunately for the citizens of Iraq, the evidence is much moreconsistent with the alternative theory  than the widely accepted one.Over the last century, there has been no tendency for countries that have become richer or more educated to become more democratic.Moreover, there are numerous  historical examples of successfuldemocratic societies starting with very low levels of education and no trace of a culture of democracy.