One frequent criticism of the war in Iraq has been that it is impossible to impose democracy from above. The revolution in Egypt represents an attempt to achieve democracy from below, as it were. The jury is out on both nations–and on both paths. However, as many have noted, revolutions that brought democratic elections have often resulted in popularly elected governments that ended future free elections–Hamas in Gaza and Mullahs in Iran are relatively recent examples, eastern Europe in 1948.
There is a third alternative. Although some like to think of the American revolution as a bottom up movement, it began as a revolt against “taxation without representation.” It is the middle classes who bear the brunt of taxes. Even those who think of the American revolution as a populist revolt–I have in mind Charles Beard–concede that the authors of the constitution represented the commercial interest. The middle way to achieve democracy is through the middle class.
