Democracy and the media

Some liberal and democratic values have existed in traditional societies, but in a specific way and within a more intimate political environment. The main political organizations of these new societies actually came from the colonial era, that is, from the era of autocratic power, with a governor at the head of a bureaucratic apparatus. It is true that decolonization organized the prudent devolution of power and responsibilities to much more representative assemblies. But this process was rather short: it lasted no more than ten to fifteen years, and sometimes less. Social values could not fully adapt to constitutionalism in such a short time, especially since the historic promoter of liberal democracy, the bourgeoisie, was very weak. It was therefore difficult to oppose the dismantling of democratic institutions.