Transatlantic Trends In Democracy Promotion

How did the EU, US, and Canada decide and implement their electoral assistance in the Palestinian Territories (PT)? Why did the EU, the US, and Canada embark on assisting the elections in the PT, and what factors influenced their electoral assistance? What lessons can be learned for other countries approaching elections after a long period of conflict? This book answers these questions and charts the process of electoral assistance with an in-depth analysis of each transatlantic actor's electoral assistance in the PT. It shows that, despite the many institutional and operational differences between the EU, the US, and Canada, the three actors do share common interests and influencing factors which often unify their response. The book also reveals the limitations facing electoral assistance and the implications of this on the sustainability, clarity, consistency, and responsiveness of the policy. In this systematic, comparative analysis of European, American and Canadian efforts to assist elections and transform governance in conflict zones Rouba Al-Fattal greatly advances the empirical knowledge of electoral assistance and provides the first steps needed to reform electoral assistance policy to cope with the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Do liberal Western democracies share a common understanding of democracy? If so, why is there a transatlantic divide over the promotion of democracy? While the US applies a bottom-up strategy in this respect, the European Union pursues a top-down approach. While there is consensus as to the desirability of the external promotion of democracy, disagreement persists as to what kinds of strategies work more effectively. This book suggests that differences between the US and Europe in terms of the promotion of democracy derive from different historical backgrounds, experiences with political modernisation and, hence, historically embedded conceptions of democracy. Democracy promoters choose instruments that advance their vision of an ideal transition and that are congruent with their respective understandings of democracy. This book's analysis of media debates in four Western democracies reveals different understandings with regard to the key aspects of democracy across the Atlantic and contributes to research on the transatlantic divide in this regard.

If a nation's fledgling democracy is in trouble, what should outsiders do? Esther Brimmer examines the effectiveness of U.S. and European responses when other countries' newfound democratic gains begin to erode. Brimmer asks tough questions about democracy promotion in transatlantic diplomacy. Is it actually helping to deepen democracy around the world? Efforts have focused primarily on ways to encourage democracy where it does not exist, or to consolidate democracy where it has taken hold. But what can and should the United States and Europe do when democracies infringe upon basic democratic principles, or there is a general erosion of democracy? Is there a role for outsiders when democracy is under threat? Should the U.S. and EU support democracy or just stability? Do they need to confront a backlash against democracy or "democracy promotion"?

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.

Democracy promotion is an established principle in US and EU foreign policies today, but how did it become so? This comparative study explores the promotion of democracy, focusing on exponents from emerging democracies alongside more established Western models, and investigates the impact of democratic interests on foreign policy.

The United States faces no greater challenge today than successfully fulfilling its new ambition of helping bring about a democratic transformation of the Middle East. Uncharted Journey contributes a wealth of concise, illuminating insights on this subject, drawing on the contributors' deep knowledge of Arab politics and their substantial experience with democracy-building in other parts of the world. The essays in part one vividly dissect the state of Arab politics today, including an up-to-date examination of the political shock wave in the region produced by the invasion of Iraq. Part two and three set out a provocative exploration of the possible elements of a democracy promotion strategy for the region. The contributors identify potential false steps as well as a productive way forward, avoiding the twin shoals of either reflexive pessimism in the face of the daunting obstacles to Arab democratization or an unrealistic optimism that fails to take into account the region's political complexities. Contributors include Eva Bellin (Hunter College), Daniel Brumberg (Carnegie Endowment), Thomas Carothers (Carnegie Endowment), Michele Dunne (Georgetown University), Graham Fuller, Amy Hawthorne (Carnegie Endowment), Marina Ottaway (Carnegie Endowment), and Richard Youngs (Foreign Policy Centre).