Research at FSI Stanford

Evaluating International Influences on Democratic Development

Investigators
Desha Girod (Project Manager) - CDDRL
Michael A. McFaul - CDDRL
Kathryn Stoner-Weiss - CDDRL
Tanja Boerzel - Free University of Berlin Free University of Berlin Free University of Berlin
Thomas Risse - Free University of Berlin Free University of Berlin
Richard Youngs - FRIDE, Madrid FRIDE, Madrid
Christoph Zuercher - Free University of Berlin

International factors (structures, actors, norms) can no longer be called the "forgotten dimension" in democratization studies. The worldwide spread of political liberalism, and the fact that democracy promotion is a strategic objective of Western governments, have brought questions about the nature and extent of external influence on domestic democratic development to the forefront of contemporary policy and academic concerns. And yet, despite the growing interest in the task of encouraging democratic development in poorly governed countries, the mechanisms of democracy promotion are not well understood. Considering the amount of donor money, time and effort invested in the cause, there is a striking dearth of both theoretical and empirical knoweldge about "what works", under what conditions and why.

The Program Evaluating International Influences on Democratic Development is led by CDDRL, in cooperation with an international network of partners, and with the generous support of the Smith Richardson Foundation. Expanding the work initiated by CDDRL's Transatlantic Research Project in October 2004, the four-year project launched in October 2006 assesses the impact of international factors on democratic development around the world in the post World War II era. Organized around four main research modules - (1) democratic transitions; (2) changes in the quality of democracy; (3) liberalization in non-democratic regimes, and (4) post-conflict reconstruction - the objective of the program is to produce a comprehensive evaluation of external influence that will be highly relevant to both policy-makers and academic communities in donor and recipient countries.

The program includes both macro level (country) and micro level (specific mechanisms of intervention) studies that will make unique in its comparative insights. Our goal is to construct a truly global community of scholars and practitioners contending with the challenges of democracy promotion.

Project Resources