Stand by Ukraine's Struggle

Democracy is not born overnight. But democracy captures our collective imagination in snapshots: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the lone student standing down Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square, Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president of South Africa. These affirm our faith in the potential of freedom to triumph under fire. A potentially stolen election -- as has been playing out in Ukraine -- could have the opposite effect, suggesting how uncertain democracy's future is, and how little outsiders can do to support it.

We must not draw that lesson from Ukraine. Last Sunday's corrupt and condemned presidential runoff election not only threatens Ukrainian democracy but also the future of democracy promotion by the West. Regardless of who ultimately assumes power in Kiev, we must not conclude that assisting democracy is a fool's errand.

Americans are developing democracy promotion fatigue. In Iraq, we face the hard truth that democracy is more than the absence of dictatorship. American voters rarely have much tolerance for a policy requiring patience, struggle and disappointment. During the campaign, President Bush downplayed the hard work of democracy promotion, while John Kerry seemed to avoid the phrase altogether. Even the foreign aid community increasingly speaks of supporting "development" and "good government," as "democracy" becomes a four-letter word.

At the precise moment when we are looking for success in promoting democracy, Ukraine has dealt us yet another blow. Certainly, Ukrainian democracy will suffer should President Leonid D. Kuchma's handpicked successor take office despite widespread voter fraud and state interference. But last week's events should not obscure the effect of Western assistance to Ukrainian democracy over the last decade.

Examples include contributing to the end of the temniki memorandums -- censorship decrees -- and the survival of one of Ukraine's last independent newspapers; funding exit polls in the March 2002 parliamentary elections that helped ensure that the opposition could take the seats it actually won; and encouraging civic involvement in the policymaking process. The protests in Kiev's streets last week attest to the vibrancy of Ukrainian civil society.

These victories of democracy do not attract the same attention as last Sunday's election results. But democracy does not happen only on election day; it is based on broader change that includes a free press, civil society and rule of law.