ABSTRACT
Although democracy and election are not interchangeable concepts, many political observers expediently refer to the holding of elections as an indicator of democratization. At least they consider elections to be a necessary condition for democracy. 1 This is especially true if marketization occurs simultaneously with them. Marketization and elections are similar in their common emphasis on the idea that individualized motivation lies behind each political and economic behavior. This individualism is what allows democracy to thrive. While the conditionality of elections as related to democratization may be reasonable, elections can also be a useful instrument in sustaining social forces irrelevant, if not hostile, to democratization. If one overlooks the various meanings of elections that do not lead to the rise of liberal culture familiar to political scientists, one would not appreciate the possibility that there might be different kinds of democracy. These kinds are the ones that do not treat individual rights seriously in either politics or the marketplace.
