Mr Dahl explains that the political institutions of real-world democracy a complicated bundle that includes elected officials; free, fair and frequent elections; freedom of expression; alternative sources of information; "associational autonomy"; and "inclusive citizenship"—do not typically arrive all at once, or in the same sequence.
"We still have a country, two parties, elections, freedom and political conventions".
They want what everyone in the Arab spring wants: elections, freedom of speech and assembly, protected status for minorities, an end to the regime's repression.
At that point, China will play a larger role in shaping, or thwarting, values such as competitive elections, freedom of expression, and an open Internet.
Mr. Karroubi, while conceding that public activism had faded in the face of a harsh crackdown, said the Greens were still working for the kinds of basic rights they have always sought: free elections, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.
They began a petition drive to call for a national plebiscite on five basic human rights: free speech, free elections, freedom to worship, freedom to start businesses, and the freeing of political prisoners.
Nearly 70percentt of Cubans 18 to 29 said that if given a chance they would support a democratic system with multiparty elections, freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
A former economic-planning official who left government in the mid-1990's to go into business, Mr. Fang issued a statement in 1998 calling for free elections, freedom of the press and independent labor unions.
The basic rights and liberties in principle 1 include the rights and liberties of democratic citizenship, such as the right to vote; the right to run for office in free elections; freedom of speech, assembly, and religion; the right to a fair trial; and, more generally, the right to the rule of law.
