Yes, democracy is more than elections, it is an entire structure of rights sovreign to the people and requires constitutional systems to ensure those rights are maintained. I do not however think there is a magic ‘education’ or ‘wealth’ amount that suddenly makes democracy viable. All people will do better under democracy, educated or not, poor or not.

By informed, I mean education in history, in philosophy, in politics. Also necessary is education about the current events that have led to the current political institution and the last elected government. A system of checks and balances is necessary to prevent the elected official from tampering with the electoral system and producing the “Democratic Dictatorship” previously mentioned.

Can we put these institutions in place in Iraq and Afghanistan? Yes, I believe we can. Have we yet? No, we haven’t. Will these Democracies succeed? I hope so, but if they do, it will be because of one of two factors: Sheer luck or a forty-year long “Marshal Plan” type of reconstruction in these two countries focusing on nation building. Any bets on whether we’ll be doing that?

While the article mentioned is inspirational, it would appear that the historical situation in El Salvador is somewhat more complex:

In 1972 the PCN nearly lost power to the Nationalist Democratic Union (UDN), whose presidential candidate, José Napoleón Duarte, accused the government of massive electoral fraud and attempted a coup. Disillusionment with the electoral process led to the formation of many popular organisations and guerrilla groups. There were renewed allegations of fraud after the 1977 elections, officially won by PCN candidate Gen. Carlos Humberto Romero, who was overthrown by a group of reformist officers in Oct. 1979. They formed a revolutionary junta and promised major social and political changes, including a land reform program. However, their failure to curb the political violence of large sections of the army led to the outbreak of civil war when, in Jan. 1981, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Movement (FMLN) launched its first major military offensive.

In the new Constituent Assembly elected in 1982, Duarte’s Christian Democratic Party (PDC) was the largest single party, though it did not command a majority. In the presidential election of 1984 Duarte defeated the extreme right-wing Maj. Roberto d’Aubuisson of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). But in Mar. 1989 ARENA’s Alfredo Cristiani was elected president. Under Duarte, attempts had been made to open negotiations with the rebels. But Cristiani adopted a harder line, declaring his support for a military solution. A major FMLN offensive in Nov. 1989 followed the collapse of negotiations. Some 2000 people were killed or wounded in one week of fighting in the capital.

In Mar. 1993 the International Truth Commission confirmed that state terrorism was systematically committed by the army, police and the associated paramilitary groups during the civil war. It concluded that the US’s Reagan administration was involved in training the infamous Atlacatl Battalion and in covering up its abuses. It also found that Roberto d’Aubisson (the late founder of ARENA) was responsible for the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero.

Source: http://www.theworldnews.com.au/Worldguide/index.php3?country=62&header=4

More on our “Support” of El Salvador:

The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Among the SOA’s nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians.

Source: http://www.soaw.org/new/