*Topicality/Definitions Democracy Promotion Includes Military Intervention

Governments Coopt Women’s Groups

Denise M. Horn, Professor International Studies-Northeastern University, 2010, Women, Civil Society and the Geopolitics of Democratization, p. 22

Recognizing the manipulation of civil society as a tool of foreign policy may appear counter-intuitive because NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in transitional states (particularly in the Eastern European context), as well as in civil societies more generally, have often been portrayed as standing in opposition to the state and as somehow outside the influence of international politics. Many of the women’s NGOs and social service NGOs I examined, in fact, were often established to challenge oppressive social norms or fill perceived governmental inadequacies; as they developed, however, they also became part of the fabric of social change and embedded in domestic politics. Thus, governments were then forced to contend with them as important political players. The interesting point here however, is that this political clout often came through the NGOs’ relationships with foreign funders; their access to foreign funding gave these organizations of the imprimatur of legitimacy. Those funders influence the programs and social causes these NGOs implemented, thus also influencing their political positions as well. Further, as the governments of these states in transitions began to realize the importance of adopting acceptable standards of democratization, according to the international community, they also began to rely upon NGOs to carry out the hard work of social transition for them.

Increased Education Insufficient to Reduce Gender Gap

Judith Cochran, Education Professor-University of Missouri, 2011, Democracy in the Middle East: the impact of religion and education, p. 87

As could be predicted, under-employment rates are higher for educated Egyptian females than for educated males. This gender gap is much larger in Egypt than in other comparable countries. Egypt is most similar in gender gap to Syria and Pakistan, two countries with relatively closed economies and few opportunities for female labor outside the public sector. Still, women are more likely to be under-employed in Egypt than they are in Syria and Pakistan. Women are significantly more likely to be unemployed than men at all ages and at all educational levels. The vast majority of unemployed females (75 percent) have at least a secondary school education because of the strong association between female labor force participation and the attainment of a secondary education.

Targeting Women with Democracy Assistance Promotes/Masks NeoLiberalism

Denise M. Horn, Professor International Studies-Northeastern University, 2010, Women, Civil Society and the Geopolitics of Democratization, p. 16

A more troubling issue, however, as noted by Jaquette and Wolchik and Funk, among others, is that the neo-liberal view of civil society encourages the engagement of women in order to provide the social safety net usually cut by governments undertaking free market reforms. On this view, the inclusion of women in civil society is not so much an issue of gender equality, but rather reinforces women’s roles as caretakers while simultaneously allowing the free market to make it increasingly difficult to raise families as well as work outside the home. As Sawer paraphrases Jaquette’s argument, “Jaquette notes the priority given to women and democracy in bilateral US democracy assistance. This suggests…that engendering democracy is part of making democracy safe for the free market, with women’s presence providing an alibi for cuts to welfare.” Petras argues that the “self-empowerment” model utilized by neo-liberal strategies actually serves to depoliticize the poor—particularly women—by channeling their limited resources to the provision of social services.

*Politics DA*

Link: No Political Support for Democracy Promotion

Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow Hoover Institute, In Search of Democracy, 2016, p. 421

If public opinion polls are to be believed, the American people are much more skeptical about the value of promoting democracy abroad than are the country’s elected leaders and foreign policy practitioners. Since 2001, Pew surveys have found democracy promotion finishing last in the public’s list of priorities for American foreign policy, well behind such “realist” concerns as protecting American jobs, protecting the US from terrorism, and reducing dependence on imported energy (though in reality, the first and last are much more the province of domestic than foreign policy). Between September 2001 and May 2011, the percentage of Americans listing democracy promotion as a foreign policy priority fell steadily from 29 to 13 percent, and the proportion listing promotion of human rights also slipped from 29 to 24 percent.
SMALL POLITICAL CONSTITUENCY FOR USAID AND STATE DEPARTMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

Gordon Adams & Cindy Williams, International Affairs Professor American University & Research Scientist-MIT, 2010, Buying National Security: how America plans and pays for its global role and safety at home, p. 232