The International Politics of Aid: ‘Good Governance’ and Democracy Promotion

2019 ◽  
pp. 223-237
Author(s):  
David Williams
Keyword(s):  
International Politics ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Democracy Promotion

scholarly journals The Contested Ethics of Democracy Promotion

2018 ◽  
pp. 426-439
Author(s):  
Milja Kurki
Keyword(s):  
International Politics ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Political Groups

This chapter explores the ethical justifications actors in international politics may have to promote democracy in other countries. Although ethical debates surrounding the promotion of democracy often remain rather implicit, this chapter seeks to show that it is not irrelevant for our understanding of the practice, or for the practitioners themselves, to think through more carefully the ethical underpinnings that actually and potentially frame this policy agenda. Paying attention to the ethics of democracy promotion is significant not least because we observe that a variety of differing, and contested, ethical assumptions and frameworks can be used to frame the activity by different actors, organizations, and political groups.

Part IV Activities of Organizations, Ch.24 Democracy Promotion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnstone Ian ◽  
Snyder Michael
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Operational Activities ◽  
Democratic Norms

This chapter examines the extent to which international organizations (IOs) engage in democracy promotion. It finds that democratic norms are being articulated and acted upon by IOs. As evidence, it looks to the development of democracy's normative roots as well as the following operational activities: electoral assistance, the good governance agenda of development programs, and peace-building. It argues that these activities are both rooted in and have had on impact on the normative climate in which IOs operate — both in a positive and negative way. The chapter does not argue that an international right to democracy exists — there is still too much contestation to make that claim. Rather, it uses the activities of IOs as a yardstick for measuring whether, how, and to what extent such a right may crystallize.

scholarly journals Dual Effects of Democracy Promotion: Evidence from International Election Observation Data of Myanmar’s General Elections

2020 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050012
Author(s):  
Xiang Wu
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
The West ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Election Observation ◽  
Work Done

Since the 1990s, international election observation, as an important way of election monitoring, has become increasingly active on the international stage. By inviting international election observation missions (IEOMs) to conduct election monitoring, the nascent democracies not only hope to promote democracy and enhance its legitimacy, but also tend to reduce international sanctions and improve relations with the West. The international election observation of Myanmar’s two general elections in 2010 and 2015 is an important sample to observe Myanmar’s democratic process and its interaction with the international community. IEOMs in Myanmar have witnessed diverse situations from being rejected to being invited, from being independently observed to participating and from slamming elections to praising them. In the 2015 general elections, IEOMs had an important impact on Myanmar’s democratic transition, but in essence, their limitations were only surrounding the election-related matters. The work done by many international election observation organizations has been limited to the procedural level of democracy, and could not help Myanmar to further the institution-building. General elections in Myanmar are due in 2020. Currently, many IEOMs have traveled to Myanmar for election observation, but it is yet to be decided whether it will contribute to good governance in Myanmar.

Monitoring Democracy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith G. Kelley
Keyword(s):  
International Politics ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Government Behavior ◽  
Election Monitoring ◽  
The World

In recent decades, governments and NGOs—in an effort to promote democracy, freedom, fairness, and stability throughout the world—have organized teams of observers to monitor elections in a variety of countries. But when more organizations join the practice without uniform standards, are assessments reliable? When politicians nonetheless cheat and monitors must return to countries even after two decades of engagement, what is accomplished? This book argues that the practice of international election monitoring is broken, but still worth fixing. By analyzing the evolving interaction between domestic and international politics, the book refutes prevailing arguments that international efforts cannot curb government behavior and that democratization is entirely a domestic process. Yet, the book also shows that democracy promotion efforts are deficient and that outside actors often have no power and sometimes even do harm. Analyzing original data on over 600 monitoring missions and 1,300 elections, the book grounds its investigation in solid historical context as well as studies of long-term developments over several elections in fifteen countries. It pinpoints the weaknesses of international election monitoring and looks at how practitioners and policymakers might help to improve them.

scholarly journals Enduring Logics of U.S. Foreign Aid during the Bush Administration

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Chansoo Cho
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Bush Administration ◽  
World Order ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Policy Ideas ◽  
The Difference

Since 9/11 the Bush administration has made larger pledges than ever to the cause of promoting development and fighting HN/AIDS in various corners of the globe. Foreign aid policy initiatives taken by the Republican president needed some explanations considering the GOP's longstanding dislike for foreign aid. One of the common answers was 9/11; the U.S. had to address the sources of discontent against itself by providing foreign development assistance to countries most vulnerable to terrorist infiltration. This paper argues that U.S. foreign aid during the Bush administration is not just a response to the spread of anti-American sentiments among failed and failing states but an outgrowth of foreign policy ideas that had shaped the liberal hegemon’s vision of the new world order since the end of the Cold War. Particularly continuities between the Clinton and Bush administrations are stressed in terms of foreign policy ideas. Three themes of post-Cold War U.S. foreign policy are identified here: globalization, democracy promotion, and good governance. Globalization has been routed as the facilitator of economic prosperity through the liberalization of trade and capital flows. Democracy promotion has been endorsed as a long-term solution to security instability of the post-Cold War world. Good governance has been advanced as a yardstick by which to compare countries in their willingness and capability to be part of global community. Those major tenets of U.S. foreign policy affected the policy outlook of foreign aid in a way that makes less significant the difference between the Clinton and Bush administrations than is assumed.

Wilson Victorious? Understanding Democracy Promotion in the Midst of a “Backlash”

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Acuto
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Hybrid Regimes ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Activity State

Many authors have issued anxious warnings about a disturbing “backlash against democracy”—this in spite of the growing affirmation of democracy as an international standard against which other systems are measured. This article considers the role of democracy promotion, which is understood as activities aimed at assisting in consolidating, disseminating, and advocating democratic governance in this context. The theoretical framework in which the promotion debate occurs is highlighted in order to show how the concept of “democracy” is socially constructed and interpreted in different ways by the various promoters. The article examines the main targets of this activity (state structures and civil societies) and compares two major supporters of democracy (the European Union and the United States). On this basis, claims about a “democratic rollback” are challenged by reference to hybrid regimes that contrast the idea of democracy with that of civilization. The backlash is better understood as resistence to some of the methods of promotion and some promoters, rather than as being against democracy itself, and the article holds that the best way to promote good governance worldwide is through an oblique, cosmopolitan or European-style democracy that fosters the multiple and processual grounds on which democratic polities can flourish.

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