Are RCTs the Best Way to Evaluate the Impact of Democracy and Governance Aid?
Despite the promise RCTs hold for helping donors and implementers demonstrate results, they are sometimes an inappropriate choice of evaluation method. This is particularly true for many democracy and governance (D&G) programs.
Carothers and Youngs: Will Rising Democracies Become International Democracy Supporters?
The Carnegie paper, LOOKING FOR HELP: Will Rising Democracies Become International Democracy Supporters?, looks at the roles of rising democracies in promoting democracy abroad.
The New Role of Central and Eastern Europe in the International Democracy Support
In the Carnegie paper Tsveta Petrova shows that many Central and Eastern European countries new to democracy are working to promote democracy among other countries in their region.
Assessing Democracy Assistance: Ghana
Assessing Democracy Assistance: Ghana by Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi is part of the series sponsored by the World Movement for Democracy which looks at the role of external donors in the democratic reforms taking place in Ghana.
HRW: Development without Freedom
Human Rights Watch has released a report detailing the effects of donor contributions in human rights in Ethiopia. The analysis of the report indicates that the Ethiopian government consistently uses their direct link to aid as a means to mute political dissent and enforce an authoritarian governance over its citizens.
Thomas Carothers: The Research Imperatives of Democracy Promotion
Writing in the American Political Science Association’s Comparative Democratization Journal, Thomas Carothers examines contemporary democracy assistance and advocates the need for practitioners and policymakers to make better use of original research.
External Perspectives on Post-Soviet Democratization: EU Democracy Promotion and the Russian Challenge
In the last two decades we have become increasingly aware of the “external dimension” of democratization. In particular, the influences of external actors – both those who support a democratic development and those who act against it.
Steven Heydemann and NIMD assess democracy promotion in the MENA region
Steven Heydemann, professor at Georgetown University, analyzes a recent report from Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) and Hivos, Beyond Orthodox Approaches: Assessing opportunities for democracy support in the Middle East and North Africa.
Burnell: Impact Evaluation for Autocracy Promotion?
Writing in the University of Warwick’s Journal of Law, Peter Burnell uses the debate surrounding Canada’s potential publicly-funded Centre for Advancing Democracy, to explore impact evaluation for autocracy promotion.
Diamond on ICTs as “liberation technology”
Recent fervor over new media as tools of democracy assistance has met resistance in the recognition that autocrats can block or use these technologies themselves. Larry Diamond in the JoD nonetheless sees these technologies as fundamentally democratizing forces. Donor countries should focus on helping users circumvent their censors.
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