Can democracy take root in cultures, societies, and nations in which it is not rooted in history?

During Tuesday’s class, there were many points that were addressed concerning the first democratic elections in Egypt. At the beginning of the class, we were showed a 6 minute video that brought us up to speed with who the runners were, a broad feel as to what the people sought in them, and a peek as to who the top contenders were. Contrary to what was expected from this Democratic election, the two candidates who received the most votes were the former prime minister under the old regime and the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate. To those citizens that hoped for a real change, this outcome doesn’t guarantee this but rather the opposite – that not much will change. With this in mind, the question of whether or not a democracy can take root in cultures, societies, or nations in which it is was not originally rooted, seems pertinent. Speaking solely from observations that I made about this particular democratic election and from my point of view, it appears that the democracy that we as Americans know cannot be instilled completely on a nation that never really had a desire of actually implementing it. From the video that we watched, we saw that when the citizens of Egypt were asked what they sought in their future president, the prominent answer was stability. The fact that this was even an answer expresses quite a lot as it implies that the people will be content with their president as long as this is exactly what he provides – it doesn’t take into consideration how it will be reached or even maintained. Personally, I would have thought these people, especially seeing as they were under an authoritarian rule before, would want a president that would ensure that they have basic rights and liberties – someone who would steer them in a completely different direction than the one they were previously in. But, evidently this is not the case seeing as the people appear to value stability over freedom. It appears that the Egyptian populous is too accustomed to the rule that they have had up until now and that they rather not take a risk and make too much of a drastic change. Even if they were willing to look at change, this does not address the issue of how they would begin to build the foundations to their new government. In order to arrive at a valid answer to this perplexing question it is clear that there needs to be much more research but as of now, I’m inclined to believe that it is really difficult to bring democracy into a nation, culture, or society that never really aspired to have it in the first place.  (And I didn’t even get the chance to discuss the issues concerning a democracy and religious beliefs…)