*Topicality/Definitions Democracy Promotion Includes Military Intervention
Democracy Assistance Fails: Overemphasis on Formal Process
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- Democracy Assistance Fails: Western Aid Elitist
Democracy Assistance Fails: Overemphasis on Formal ProcessELECTIONS ALONE INSUFFICINT TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF THE POOR Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow Hoover Institute, In Search of Democracy, 2016, p. 392 Where elections are free and fair, the poor stand a better chance of effecting poverty-reducing changes in budget priorities, policies, and institutions—but even then, the chance is not always much better. Electoral democracy may be diminished in several respects that impede its potential for poverty alleviation and empowerment. First the arena of electoral competition may be distorted by corruption, so that while the polling is not grossly rigged on voting day, parties and candidates obtain the resources to compete through the sale of political decisions and influence. Such corruption in party and campaign finance diminishes the need of political competitors, particularly incumbents, to be responsive to the majority of their constituents and gives them a shortcut to electoral victory. ELECTIONS DO NOT ENSURE POPULAR LEGITIMACY OF LEADERS William Maley, Asia-Pacific College Director-Australian National University, 2013, American Democracy Promotion in the Changing Middle East: From Bush to Obama, eds. Akbarzadeh, MacQueen, Piscattori & Saikal, p. 40 Sixth, and flowing from this, it is a grave error to assume that political legitimacy—that is, generalized, normative support for a political order or ruler – will simply flow from the holding of elections. In a deeply insecure environment, the legitimacy of rulers may be undermined by their failure to deliver security, even if they happened to have been elected to office. But it may be that electoral success matters less to ordinary people in generating generalized, normative support than some other factors, such as ethnic or tribal identity, the force of a charismatic ruler, the salience of a traditional institution, or a ruler’s general performance. Tribes, and tribal leaderships proved more important in Iraq than many elected politicians, and if President Karzai survives in Afghanistan, it will not be on the strength of having won a free and fair election.
Ayan M. Alsayed, Counselor in International Education and Development, 2008, Advancing Democracy Through Education: US influence abroad and domestic practices, eds. E. Stevic & B. Levinson, p. 79 In addition, the nature of the “democracy” that donors are hoping to support is unclear. While emerging theory in civic education generally supports a notion of democracy that is broadly participatory and highly engaged, donors often support forms of democratization that are more representative and superficial, focusing more on the mechanics of political choice than on fundamental change in political systems. Indeed, much of donors’ support for civic education concentrates on educating people around issues related to the national or to the formal systems of governance, such a elections, judiciaries, legislatures, and political parties, which are often artificially viewed as culturally-neutral and transportable. These activities promote what Golub (2000) refers to as “big D” democracy, where the process becomes more important than the product. Golub argues that this form of democratization is largely ineffective, and that “small d” democracy (which relates to local-level problem-solving around issues of daily concern to the disadvantaged) is more important because it achieves a concrete product, reaches a broader base, and provides people with experience and confidence that they can use to try to effect change at higher levels. Such an approach is also more likely to take advantage of cultural specifics that are conducive to the development of relevant contextualized democracy.
Ayan M. Alsayed, Counselor in International Education and Development, 2008, Advancing Democracy Through Education: US influence abroad and domestic practices, eds. E. Stevic & B. Levinson, p. 79 In fact, donor efforts seem to be concentrated in what Patrick (1997) refers to as the civic knowledge domain of civic education, which closely parallels Golub’s “big D.” Civic knowledge covers basic political concepts (e.g., rule of law; limited, representative government; individual rights; popular sovereignty; political participation and civil society) and an understanding of their institutionalization. Patrick, however, also identifies two other core civic education domains, which he refers to as civic skills and civic virtues. Civic skills are tools of reflection, analysis and action related to public issues. Civic virtues are what he calls “traits necessary to preserve and improve democracy.” These include self-discipline, civility, compassion, tolerance, and respect for the worth and dignity of all individuals (p. 3). Civic skills in many donor programs are more technical than they are analytical, and civic values are discussed more than they are practiced. As donors’ primary clients are state governments, radical change that might undermine those governments is not in their interests. Therefore, the typical choice to focus on the technical side democracy is not surprising. However, such a focus limits the range and spirit of civic education, and reduces its potential effect. Democracy Assistance Fails: Western Aid ElitistFOREIGN DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE PRIVILEGES ELITES AND EXCLUDES MOST COMPETENT LOCAL PEOPLE Doyle Stevick, Education Professor-University of South Carolina, 2008, Advancing Democracy Through Education: US influence abroad and domestic practices, eds. E. Stevic & B. Levinson, p. 111-2 While foreign partners did not have a great deal of success advancing specific views, they did have a significant influence, however inadvertently, in three areas: in privileging English-speakers, in shaping the forms that civil society would take, and in shaping the agenda. English language ability was not widespread among adults in the former Soviet Union, so projects or partnerships that required English-language ability as a criterion immediately eliminated a great number of worthy – perhaps the most worthy – partners. Those who already had some knowledge of English often constituted a (relatively) privileged group. Bruno observed this pattern in Russia itself, “presumably involuntarily, donor agencies are offering, through development projects, new sources for reinforcing the elitist, feudal-type system of social-stratification” (as cited in Wedel, 2001, p. 114). This kind of reinforcement of elites occurs in part because, as Chris Hann explains, “the focus [on NGOs] has tended to restrict funding to fairly narrow groups, typically intellectual elites concentrated in capital cities” (as cited Wedel, 2001, p. 114). These elites, in turn, are those most likely to have English language skills, although that criterion is no guarantee that an appropriate partner will be found, as Jay Austin points out: “Elevating a class of English-speaking people who can absorb enough buzzwords from and RFP [Request for Proposals] in order to put together something that looks like a Western budget may or may not be the kind of people that we’d like to most encourage in the environmental sector.” (as cited in Wedel, 2001, p. 120). Directory: assets assets -> Northern territory of australia assets -> Number: caveat in the [Will/Will and Codicil/Estate of] assets -> Invitation for Bid Calact/mbta for Standard Floor and Low Floor Rural Duty Vehicles ifb no. 12-03 November 14, 2012 assets -> 12 Step Retreats For Everyone in Twelve Step Recovery Ratner Fellowship assets -> 12 Step Retreats For Everyone in Twelve Step Recovery Ratner Fellowship assets -> Sigaccess annual Report assets -> Central Government is expected to ask the seventh pay commission to consider merging 50% dearness allowance assets -> List of accessible executive records assets -> Emergency telephone numbers Call toll-free from anywhere in France Download 2.51 Mb. Share with your friends:
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