Can democracy be exported? (original) (raw)
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2006
This examination of political theory explores the cycles of isolationism, multilateralism, militarism, nationalism, imperialism, and determinism as evidenced in American foreign policy. Many American presidents have attempted to "democratize" other nations as part of their respective national security and foreign relations strategies.
Democracy Promotion as Foreign Policy
Democracy Promotion as Foreign Policy, 2017
This book looks at democracy promotion as a form of foreign policy. Elliott asks why democracy was seen to be the answer to the 7/7 bombings in London, and why it should be promoted not in Britain, but in Pakistan. The book provides a detailed answer to these questions, examining the logic and the modes of thinking that made such a response possible through analysis of the stories we tell about ourselves: stories about time, history, development, civilisation and the ineluctable spread of democracy. Elliott argues that these narratives have become a key tool in enabling practices that differentiate selves from others, friends from enemies, the domestic from the foreign, civilisation from the barbarian. They operate with a particular conception of time and constitute a British, democratic, national identity by positing an "other" that is barbaric, alien, despotic, violent and backward. Such understandings are useful in the wake of disaster, because they leave us with something to do: danger can be managed by bringing certain people and places up-to-date. However, this book shows that there are other stories to be told, and that it is possible to read stories about history against the grain, and author alternative, less oppressive versions. Providing a genealogy drawing on material from colonial and postcolonial Britain and Pakistan, including legislation, political discourse, popular culture and government projects, this book will be of interest to scholars and students focusing on democracy promotion, genealogy, critical border studies, poststructural international relations, postcolonial politics, discourse analysis, identity/subjectivity, and the "war on terror".
A Case for Global Democracy? Arms Exports and Conflicting Goals in Democracy Promotion
Journal of International Relations and Development, 2019
Journal of International Relations and Development 3/2019 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41268-017-0114-0). With Michal Mochťak. ——— Employing the framework of conflicting goals in democracy promotion as departure point, the paper addresses the issue of arms exports to non-democratic countries as an important research topic which points to a reconsideration of certain fundamental conceptual and normative commitments underpinning democracy promotion. Empirically, we remind of the lingering hypocrisy of Western arms exporters, knowing that exports to non-democratic countries often hinder or block democratisation. This is not easily circumvented, because of the many conflicting objectives both internal and external to democracy promotion itself. Yet democracy and human rights promotion remain, ethically and pragmatically, important policy goals. Noting that the self-evident character of the state-based liberal democratic model is being increasingly questioned in the literature, we then critically explore a radical if surprisingly natural alternative vision: Namely that if the commitment to democracy and human rights is to be genuine, only global democracy remains a viable way of resolving the many dilemmas, as it aspires to deal both with regulating arms exports and building of accountable decision-making structures. Although we ultimately reject the globalist solution and lean towards a less radical constructivist approach, we endorse the underlying rationale, namely that democracy promotion needs to sincerely embrace normative democratic theory.
Paper prepared for the 51st Annual Convention of the International Studies Association (ISA), New Orleans, LA, February 17-20, 2010., 2010
A few years ago, it was a common complaint that the international dimension of democratization and, in particular, the external promotion of democracy were largely neglected by scholars of comparative politics and international relations. By now, however, this has changed. Academic research has begun to catch up with the growth of foreign and development policies – and an emerging “democracy promotion industry” – explicitly aiming at the international promotion and protection of democratic orders. Yet, what is still a largely unexplored desideratum is the challenge to theoretically grasp “democracy promotion” as aim and strategy of democratic foreign policies, that is to embed the empirical research on democracy promotion in theoretical perspectives on international relations and foreign policy. In this paper, we set out to contribute to filling this gap. We therefore scan IR theories in order to identify the place and the significance of external democracy promotion within the foreign (and development) policies of democratic states. The paper examines, firstly, theoretical approaches to the Democratic Peace and, secondly, different theories of international relations and, more specifically, foreign policy. In both cases, a certain amount of theoretical creativity is unavoidable as existing work on the Democratic Peace, IR theories and foreign policy analysis has, up to now, largely ignored external democracy promotion. We do not aim at presenting a potential theory of external democracy promotion but only at systematizing possible theoretical approaches to this phenomenon.
The Effects of U.S. Foreign Assistance on Democracy Building, 1990–2003
World Politics, 2007
of USAID for their support and assistance to this project, and Michael Bratton, Michael Coppedge and Pamela Paxton for expert advice and criticisms along the way. For more information about the project, see www.pitt.edu/\~politics/democracy/democracy.html. sectoral dimensions. Thus, we show the impact of elections assistance on countries' level of free and competitive electoral processes, the impact of civil society assistance on the freedom and independence of countries' civil society sector, the impact of governance assistance on governance-related democratic outcomes, and so forth. None of these kinds of analyses for the overall assessment of democracy promotions efforts have been conducted previously.
What Is Democracy? Liberal Institutions and Stability in Changing Societies
Orbis, 2006
Is it possible to export democracy? That question underlies current U.S. foreign policy, and answering it requires an operational definition of democracy that distinguishes its essential attributes from circumstantial ones. Liberal representative government under law, sustained by a political culture that accepts open disagreement and demands accountability, provides the only form of democracy that has sustained itself over time. Democracy typically emerges from within a society, and history demonstrates the difficulty of making democracy work. Imposing it externally presents further challenges while risking a backlash. The project of spreading democracy must therefore be separated from the objective of establishing a stable order favoring American interests so that the latter end can be achieved by more modest means.
The contradictions of democratization by force: the case of Iraq
Democratization, 2009
The article uses the Iraq example to show that the project of imposing democracy from outside by force is inherently contradictory and likely to fail, for reasons that go beyond the particular circumstances of the country or the Middle East. The paper then reviews a number of historical cases that have been supposed to show that democracy can result from armed invasion, and concludes that this was only so because in no case was imposing democracy the prime purpose of an invasion. Finally, it draws attention to the consequences for the quality of democracy at home in the countries most responsible for seeking to export democracy by force of arms.