An American justice's and a Middle East dictator's thoughts on the spread of democracy.
A foundation principle of democracy is the notion of human progress. In his book An Affair with Freedom United States Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote:
The mists which have obscured the light of freedom and equality for countless tens of millions are dissipating. For the unity of the human family is becoming more and more distinct on the horizon of human events. The gradual civilization of all people replacing the civilization of only the elite, the rise of mass education and mass media of communication, the formulation of new thought structures due to scientific advances and social evolution–all these phenomena hasten that day.
 As people become more and more aware of the truth – as they more fully appreciate their own and others' human potential – as they learn how their condition can be materially improved – as they dare to create new structures of cooperation that permit them to achieve their dreams – to that extent we all become more free.
The Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pretends to celebrate the democracy movement in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. Michael Adler of The Politico quotes Ahmadinejad as crowing that
changes will be forthcoming and will engulf the whole world from Asia to Africa and from Europe to North America.
He sounds triumphant, as if the democracy movement were a defeat for America. He says:
If the regime in Egypt collapses, then U.S. influence will collapse. We now face a region with a different situation. The picture of the region will be changed.
Ahmadinejad is right that "the picture of the region will be changed," but he is wrong to view this as a victory for Iran and a defeat for the United States. America does not seek empire. Our country was not founded upon the idea that Americans were meant to rule the people of other countries. American exceptionalism is based upon the opposite ideal – that "all men are created equal." No person has an inherent right to rule another. As Lincoln said at Peoria in response to Stephen Douglas' arguments on behalf of slavery:
The doctrine of self government is right â absolutely and eternally right â but it has no just application, as here attempted. Or perhaps I should rather say that whether it has such just application depends upon whether a negro is not or is a man. If he is not a man, why in that case, he who is a man may, as a matter of self-government, do just as he pleases with him. But if the negro is a man, is it not to that extent, a total destruction of self-government, to say that he too shall not govern himself? When the white man governs himself that is self-government; but when he governs himself, and also governs another man, that is more than self-government—that is despotism. If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that âall men are created equal;â and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another.
Four years later in their seventh debate at Alton, Illinois, Lincoln drew this distinction between his position and that of Douglas:
That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles—right and wrong—throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, âYou work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it.â No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.
The United States stands foursquare for the "common right of humanity" and against the "divine right of kings" in whatever form it takes: monarchy, dictatorship, slavery, empire, or theocratic rule. Two years ago at Cairo in his speech "A New Beginning" our President announced both opposition to imperialism and support for democracy:
No system of government can or should be imposed by one nation by any other.That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people. Each nation gives life to this principle in its own way, grounded in the traditions of its own people. America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. These are not just American ideas; they are human rights. And that is why we will support them everywhere.
Message, Mahmoud – democracy is coming your way. The Iranian people, like the Egyptians, have a proud and ancient culture; and yet they are a young people, educated and interconnected as never before. They will not long tolerate governance by those who claim that God has bestowed upon others the right to rule over them.  The United States will not impose democracy upon you. We are not conquerors. We are nothing more than a beacon – our flame is "the imprisoned lightening. " Your own people will seize their rights and bequeath them to their children. The mists that have obscured the dawn of freedom and equality are dissapating.
Professor Huhn has taught Constitutional Law at the University of Akron for over a quarter century. You may access his websites on Constitutional Law and Health Care Financing Reform for additional materials and information about those subjects. Drafts of his scholarly work are available from his author page at ssrn: http://ssrn.com/author=83790
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