Promoting Democracy

Promoting Democracy
Author :
Publisher : NYU Press
Total Pages : 344
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781479878451
ISBN-13 : 1479878456
Rating : 4/5 (51 Downloads)

Synopsis Promoting Democracy by : Manal A. Jamal

How Western donor assistance can both help and undermine democracy in different parts of the world Democracy promotion is a central pillar of the foreign policy of many states, but the results are often disappointing. In Promoting Democracy, Manal A. Jamal examines why these efforts succeed in some countries, but fail in others. A former journalist and researcher in the Palestinian territories, she offers an up-close perspective of the ways in which Western donor funding has, on one hand, undermined political participation in cases such as the Palestinian territories, and, on the other hand, succeeded in bolstering political engagement in cases such as El Salvador. Based on five fieldwork trips and over 150 interviews with grassroots activists, political leaders, and directors and program officers in donor agencies and NGOs, Jamal brings into focus an often-overlooked perspective: the experiences of those directly affected by this assistance. Promoting Democracy makes an important and timely argument about how political settlements ultimately shape democracy promotion efforts, and what political choices Western state sponsored donors can make to maximize successful outcomes in different contexts across the world.

Democratic Futures

Democratic Futures
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 314
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781135102289
ISBN-13 : 1135102287
Rating : 4/5 (89 Downloads)

Synopsis Democratic Futures by : Milja Kurki

Democracy promotion has been an influential policy agenda in many Western states and international organisations, and amongst many NGO actors. But what kinds of models of democracy do democracy promoters promote? This book examines in detail the conceptual orders that underpin democracy support activity, and the conceptions of democracy that democracy promoters, consciously or inadvertently, work with. Such an examination is not only timely but much-needed in today’s context of multiple democratic and financial crises. Contestation over democracy’s meaning is returning, but how is this contestation reflected, if at all, in democracy promotion policies and practices? Seeking to open up debate on multiple models of democracy, this text provides the reader not only with the outlines of various possible politico-economic models of democracy, but also with a close empirical engagement with democracy promoters’ discourses and practices. Drawing on a broad spectrum of examples, it exposes the challenges faced by Western governments in trying to reshape the political and economic landscape across the world and tentatively advances a set of concrete policy provocations which may enable a more pluralist and flexible democracy promotion practice to emerge. This innovative new work will be essential reading for all students of democratisation, democracy promotion and international relations.

The Substance of EU Democracy Promotion

The Substance of EU Democracy Promotion
Author :
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1137466316
ISBN-13 : 9781137466310
Rating : 4/5 (16 Downloads)

Synopsis The Substance of EU Democracy Promotion by : A. Wetzel

The book investigates the substance of the European Union's (EU) democracy promotion policy. It focuses on elections, civil and political rights, horizontal accountability, effective power to govern, stateness, state administrative capacity, civil society, and socio-economic context as components of embedded liberal democracy.

Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion

Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 230
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781351571180
ISBN-13 : 1351571184
Rating : 4/5 (80 Downloads)

Synopsis Conflicting Objectives in Democracy Promotion by : Julia Leininger

The agenda of external actors often includes a number of objectives that do not necessarily and automatically go together. Fostering security and stability in semi-authoritarian regimes collides with policies aimed at the support of processes of democratization prone to conflict and destabilization. Meanwhile, the promotion of national self-determination and political empowerment might lead to forms of democracy, partially incompatible with liberal understandings. These conflicting objectives are often problematized as challenges to the effectiveness of international democracy promotion. This book presents systematic research about their emergence and effects. The contributing authors investigate (post-) conflict societies, developing countries, and authoritarian regimes in Southeast Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. They identify the socio-economic and political conditions in the recipient country, the interaction between international and local actors, and the capacity of international and local actors as relevant for explaining the emergence of conflicting objectives. And they empirically show that faced with conflicting objectives donors either use a ‘wait and see’-approach (i.e. not to act to overcome such conflicts), they prioritize security, state-building and development over democracy, or they compromise democracy promotion with other goals. However, convincing strategies for dealing with such conflicts still need to be devised. This book was published as a special issue of Democratization.

The Conceptual Politics of Democracy Promotion

The Conceptual Politics of Democracy Promotion
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 273
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781136643613
ISBN-13 : 1136643613
Rating : 4/5 (13 Downloads)

Synopsis The Conceptual Politics of Democracy Promotion by : Christopher Hobson

This book explores the frameworks underlying different notions of democracy, and how these influence political decisions.

Democracy Promotion and the Normative Power Europe Framework

Democracy Promotion and the Normative Power Europe Framework
Author :
Publisher : Springer
Total Pages : 205
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9783319926902
ISBN-13 : 331992690X
Rating : 4/5 (02 Downloads)

Synopsis Democracy Promotion and the Normative Power Europe Framework by : Marek Neuman

This book presents a topical, holistic assessment of the European Union’s democracy promotion in South-East Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, analyzed through the prism of the Normative Power Europe (NPE) framework of transnational policy formation. To do so, it brings together three scholarly domains that traditionally stand apart and are discussed separately. The first addresses the notion of the European Union conducting a normatively-driven foreign policy both near and far abroad. The second is concerned with the legitimacy, operationality, and effectiveness of promoting democracy in third-world countries. The third addresses the quality of the relationship the European Union has been able to establish with some vital – yet often troubled – countries in South-East Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Finally, based on the empirical findings presented in each chapter, this volume concludes by rethinking the concept and relevance of NPE to the field’s understanding of the EU’s foreign policy making. This edited volume offers the reader both a theoretically and empirically rich analysis of the European Union’s efforts to promote democracy abroad. As such is scholars and students of EU studies, particularly EU foreign policy, as well as policy makers at EU and national level and civil society representatives responsible for designing/implementing democracy promoting projects on the ground.

The Quality of Democracy

The Quality of Democracy
Author :
Publisher : University of Notre Dame Pess
Total Pages : 281
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780268160678
ISBN-13 : 0268160678
Rating : 4/5 (78 Downloads)

Synopsis The Quality of Democracy by : Guillermo O'Donnell

In 1996, Guillermo O’Donnell taught a seminar at the University of Notre Dame on democratic theory. One of the questions explored in this class was whether it is possible to define and determine the “quality” of democracy. Jorge Vargas Cullell, a student in this course, returned to his native country of Costa Rica, formed a small research team, and secured funding for undertaking a “citizen audit” of the quality of democracy in Costa Rica. This pathbreaking volume contains O’Donnell’s qualitative theoretical study of the quality of democracy and Vargas Cullell’s description and analysis of the empirical data he gathered on the quality of democracy in Costa Rica. It also includes twelve short, scholarly reflections on the O’Donnell and Cullell essays. The primary goal of this collection is to present the rationale and methodology for implementing a citizen audit of democracy. This book is an expression of a growing concern among policy experts and academics that the recent emergence of numerous democratic regimes, particularly in Latin America, cannot conceal the sobering fact that the efficacy and impact of these new governments vary widely. These variations, which range from acceptable to dismal, have serious consequences for the people of Latin America, many of whom have received few if any benefits from democratization. Attempts to gauge the quality of particular democracies are therefore not only fascinating intellectual exercises but may also be useful practical guides for improving both old and new democracies. This book will make important strides in addressing the increasing practical and academic concerns about the quality of democracy. It will be required reading for political scientists, policy analysts, and Latin Americanists.

The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory

The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 737
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780198746928
ISBN-13 : 019874692X
Rating : 4/5 (28 Downloads)

Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory by : Chris Brown

The essential volume for all those working on International Political Theory and related areas.

Us Democracy Promotion After the Cold War

Us Democracy Promotion After the Cold War
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 304
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1032240660
ISBN-13 : 9781032240664
Rating : 4/5 (60 Downloads)

Synopsis Us Democracy Promotion After the Cold War by : Annika Elena Poppe

This book explores the often assumed but so far not examined proposition that a particular U.S. culture influences U.S. foreign policy behavior or, more concretely, that widely shared basic assumptions embraced by members of the U.S. administration have a notable impact on foreign policy-making. Publicly professed beliefs regarding America's role in the world and about democracy's universal appeal - despite much contestation - go to the heart of U.S. national identity. Employing extensive foreign policy text analysis as well as using the case study of U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relations during the Clinton, Bush junior, and Obama administrations, it shows that basic assumptions matter in U.S. democracy promotion in general, and the book operationalizes them in detail as well as employs qualitative content analysis to assess their validity and variation. The research presented lies at the intersection of International Relations, U.S. foreign policy, regional studies, and democracy promotion. The specific focus on the domestic 'cultural' angle for the study of foreign policy and this dimension's operationalization makes it a creative crossover study and a unique contribution to these overlapping fields.

Funding Virtue

Funding Virtue
Author :
Publisher : Carnegie Endowment
Total Pages : 352
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780870031786
ISBN-13 : 0870031783
Rating : 4/5 (86 Downloads)

Synopsis Funding Virtue by : Marina Ottaway

The United States and many other international donors have embraced civil-society aid as a key tool of democracy promotion. This collection of essays analyzes civil-society aid in five regions - South Africa, the Philippines, Peru, Egypt and Romania - focusing on crucial issues and dilemmas.