This should be a widely held view on democracy, unfortunately it is not. By highlighting the diversity and complexity of democracy, Brett has provided a timely and persuasive argument against the widely held view that democracy is both universal and unproblematic. He could, however, go further. For instance, the World Social Forum and broader global justice movement demonstrates that the role of the state in democratic governance can no longer be assumed nor is democracy restricted to the arena of the nation-state. I would like to hear more about how the people of Afghanistan and Iraq imagine their political future.