New Directions for Democracy Promotion:
Opportunities and Challenges for the Next Administration in Pursuing Global Good Governance
Panel Discussion
International Republican Institute
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Despite widespread skepticism about U.S. democracy promotion, democracies remain the most effective form of government to foster peace, internal stability, and social and economic development. To the extent that the war in Iraq has engendered disillusionment about democracy promotion, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the Better World Campaign hosted a panel discussion on August 7 to explain why the core principles and concepts underlying democratic promotion should merit continued support by the next administration.
Ambassador Ronald Neumann, former ambassador to Afghanistan and now president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, introduced the panelists and framed the panel discussion in the context of why stability alone cannot suffice as an organizing basis for policy. The panelists, Lorne Craner and Kenneth Wollack, presidents of IRI and NDI, presented a paper they co-authored for the Better World Campaign’s “Don’t Go It Alone” series, titled "New Directions for Democracy Promotion," and discussed concrete recommendations for the next administration to rejuvenate U.S. democracy promotion efforts around the world. Particularly, they commented on the recent trend of multilateralism in democracy promotion, and called for a better understanding among the public of what democracy promotion means, as opposed to regime change. Lorne Craner said that eighty countries have made significant progress on building democratic governments in recent years, whereas there have only been five cases of regime change in US history. Among their recommendations for the next administration were a greater emphasis on improving the UN Human Rights Council, better educational efforts on democracy promotion in the US Foreign Service, and that the USAID Office of Democracy and Governance be upgraded to a Bureau.
Ambassador Neumann led a discussion about the diplomatic realities of trying to foster democracy abroad, and what different holistic strategies exist to effectively build the institutions needed for good governance. Specifically, he asked how democracy promotion can be better explained to the public as going beyond supporting elections to building the structures and relationships needed to foster peaceful, stable societies after elections. The panelists elaborated on the important work of helping political parties develop substantive platforms, of working with governments to enhance their capacity to meet basic social needs, of conducting and using polls to help parties understand the issues important to their societies. They also discussed the importance of and the need for effective and fair mechanisms for redress in society.
In the Q&A session, Michelle Kelemen, diplomatic correspondent for NPR, asked what the next administration can do to restore US credibility abroad. Lorne Craner said that there needs to be a tone of reciprocity and multilateralism in the next administration, and that the US can do more to listen to and work with others on pressing international issues. When asked by Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch, president of the US-China Education Trust, what relationship exists between democracy promotion and public diplomacy, Ken Wollack said the two are separate issues, and linking democracy promotion to winning support for US policies runs the risk of undermining governance efforts.
Related Materials
> Read the paper, "New Directions for Democracy Promotion"
> Watch a video of "New Directions for Democracy Promotion," made possible by Fora.tv
> View photos taken at the event
