Reading some of the news out of Mongolia lately it would be easy to conclude that the country is on the verge of becoming yet another failed post-socialist experiment in democracy. Easy, but wrong. Parliamentary elections held late last month show an electorate exercising their rights, and institutions growing more functional at meeting the public's demands.

The origins of the doomsday fears for Mongolian democracy lie in the April 13 arrest of former President Nambaryn Enkhbayar on corruption charges. Some inside Mongolia...