Democracy Assistance Bypassing Governments In Recipient Countries

This book addresses important and under-researched issues such as, the role of young people in democratization processes, the role of new democracies in sharing their transition experience, and the effectiveness of aid. A major theme of the book is democracy assistance efforts by the NGOs from Central and Eastern Europe to support young people in Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and Central Asia. It examines this theme in a comparative perspective and with a deeper analysis of reasons and ways to support young people, the need to support them and the effectiveness of these efforts. Bringing together a wide range of material on democracy assistance of Central and Eastern European countries that includes surveying the providers and beneficiaries of aid and looking for better methods of impact evaluation, the book advances a framework for assessing democracy assistance efforts. It concludes with implications of the impact of democracy assistance on young people and democracy diffusion from Central and Eastern European democracies to other countries. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, democratization, Central and Eastern Europe, Post-Soviet studies, and European and Comparative Politics, as well as for practitioners (donors, NGOs) who want to know what works best, and why and when in aid provision.

This book addresses important and under-researched issues such as, the role of young people in democratization processes, the role of new democracies in sharing their transition experience, and the effectiveness of aid. A major theme of the book is democracy assistance efforts by the NGOs from Central and Eastern Europe to support young people in Eastern Europe, the Western Balkans, and Central Asia. It examines this theme in a comparative perspective and with a deeper analysis of reasons and ways to support young people, the need to support them and the effectiveness of these efforts. Bringing together a wide range of material on democracy assistance of Central and Eastern European countries that includes surveying the providers and beneficiaries of aid and looking for better methods of impact evaluation, the book advances a framework for assessing democracy assistance efforts. It concludes with implications of the impact of democracy assistance on young people and democracy diffusion from Central and Eastern European democracies to other countries. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of democracy, democratization, Central and Eastern Europe, Post-Soviet studies, and European and Comparative Politics, as well as for practitioners (donors, NGOs) who want to know what works best, and why and when in aid provision.

This examination of how Western governments support democracy worldwide considers how countries use this aid. Attention is paid to post-conflict situations and semi-authoritarian regimes where democratization has stalled, and international support of democratic decentralization is assessed.

In recent years, assistance aimed at promoting democracy abroad has become a major component of U.S. foreign aid and of the U.S. government's post-Cold War policy of seeking to enlarge the international community of democratic nations. Despite its rapid growth, however, democracy assistance remains poorly understood in practice and its value is frequently questioned. This landmark study, an examination of U.S. democracy assistance efforts in Romania, is the first comprehensive analysis of the workings--and failings--of U.S. democracy assistance in one country. Based on the author's extensive field research, the study provides widely applicable answers to key questions about the value, strategies, methods, and future of such assistance.

Explores the different choices made by donor governments when delivering foreign aid projects around the world.

The approaches of EU institutions and the US to democracy assistance often vary quite significantly as both actors choose different means and tactics. The nuances in the understandings of democracy on the part of the EU and the US lead to their promotion of models of democratic governance that are often quite divergent and, in some respects, clashing. This book examines the sources of this divergence and by focusing on the role of the actors’ "democratic identity" it aims to explain the observation that both actors use divergent strategies and instruments to foster democratic governance in third countries. Taking a constructivist view, it demonstrates that the history, expectations and experiences with democracy of each actor significantly inform their respective definition of democracy and thus the model of democracy they promote abroad. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners in democracy promotion, democratization, political theory, EU and US foreign policy and assistance, and identity research.

International Aid and Democracy Promotion investigates the link between foreign aid and the promotion of democracy, using theory, statistical tests, and illustrative case studies. This book challenges the field of development to recognize that democracy promotion is unlike other development goals. With a goal like economic development, the interests of the recipient and the donor coincide; whereas, with democratization, authoritarian recipients have strong reasons to oppose what donors seek. The different motivations of donors and recipients must be considered if democracy aid is to be effective. The author examines how donors exercise their leverage over aid recipients, and, more importantly, why, using selectorate theory to understand the incentives of both aid donors and recipients. International Aid and Democracy Promotion will be of great interest to academics and students of development and democratization, as well as policy makers with authority over foreign aid allocation. “The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003050438, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Open Access for this book is generously supported by the Ashoka University.

This volume focuses on the issue of change in democratic politics in terms of experimental or actual innovations introduced either within political parties or outside the party system, involving citizen participation and mobilization. Including a wide and diverse range of alternatives in the organization of groups, campaigning, conducting initiatives and enhancing practices, they not only question the relevance of traditional institutions in representing citizens’ values and interests, but also share a common goal which is precisely – and perhaps paradoxically – to reshape and invigorate representative democracy This book is of key interest to scholars and students of party politics, elections/electoral studies, social movement and democratic innovations and more broadly to comparative politics, political theory and political sociology.