Much has been said about Singapore not being invited to the United States' recent democracy summit.

Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh said the reason was that the US does not see Singapore as a true democracy (S'pore not invited as US doesn't see it as a true democracy: Tommy Koh, Dec 10).

Former MP Goh Choon Kang said that the summit's invitation list reflected US geopolitical calculations (Democracy summit's invitation list shows US geopolitical calculations, Dec 10).

Meanwhile, China, which was not invited, has released a White Paper extolling the virtues of its own political system.

How should Singaporeans take the country's exclusion from the summit?

To begin with, one should understand the US approach to foreign policy. The US has always seen itself as a "city on a hill"; a paradigm of liberal democratic values that other nations can look towards for inspiration.

Among other countries invited to the summit, each has its own style of democracy, such as "cacique democracy" in the Philippines where political dynasties dominate. Some countries experience problems with press freedom and extrajudicial killings.

China, for its own part, is pushing a more consequentialist definition of democracy, largely assessed on material improvements to people's lives and social stability.

These competing definitions, played out on the international stage, can be seen as a tussle for the hegemonic definition of democracy, which remains a key parameter for countries' legitimacy around the world.

Such summits are strategic in nature and should not be seen as expressions of moral virtue.

Rather than purely judging democracy by liberal values or consequentialist outcomes, one should remember the Greek origins of the term: demos, which can be translated as "the people", and kratos, which can be translated as "power".

Democracy should be valued as a process that supports the individual rights and liberties of people, from whom a government's power is derived.

That means allowing people to advocate their own civil liberties more freely and play a greater role in the policymaking process.

Singapore, which has always sought to maintain friendly ties with both the US and China, would do well to sit out such tussles. Yet, it should not rest on its laurels, but continue to develop an even more substantive form of democracy.

Isaac Neo