ABSTRACT
Although democracy and the holding of elections by secret ballot are not interchangeable concepts, many political observers consider elections to be a necessary condition for democracy. 1 This is especially true if marketization occurs simultaneously. Marketization and elections place a common emphasis on individual motivation behind political and economic behavior; this individualism is what drives democracy. While the individualistic character of elections as related to democratization may be reasonable, elections can also help to sustain social forces that are irrelevant, if not hostile, to democratization. If one were to overlook the various meanings of elections that do not lead to the rise of the sort of democratic culture familiar to political scientists, one would not appreciate the possibility that there might be different kinds of democracy, ones that do not treat seriously individual rights in politics or the market.
