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1011. Collective Defense of Democracy: Concepts and Procedures

Author:
Carlos Ayala Corao and Pedro Nikken Bellshaw-Hógg
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
At the General Assembly of the Organization of American States held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in June of 2005, the member states enjoined Secretary General José Miguel Insulza to prepare a report on past use of the Inter-American Democratic Charter (IDC) and make suggestions to the Permanent Council concerning possible improvements in its application. The resolution on “Promotion of Regional Cooperation for Implementation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter” also urges the Permanent Council to receive input from civil society concerning the IDC, and conscious of this invitation, The Carter Center and the Andean Commission of Jurists (CAJ) have responded to this invitation.
Topic:
Democratization and Globalization
Political Geography:
Latin America

1012. Is Iran's Reform Movement Dead?

Author:
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
The surprise victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian Presidential election last June brings up the question of whether the reform movement is dead in Iran. Does Ahmadinejad's success imply that Iranians have economic demands only? Who now are the supporters of reform?
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Democratization
Political Geography:
Iran

1013. Globalization, Private Security, and Democratic Processes: Implications for the Democratic Peace?

Author:
Deborah Avant
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Peace and Security Studies
Abstract:
During the 1990s and into this century, a robust market for force emerged alongside and intertwined with state military forces. The rise of stateless forces associated with globalization is often seen as breaking down barriers between states and enhancing the prospects for peace, particularly among advanced democracies. Stateless forces, in particular marketbased security, may also, however, alter the functioning of democracies. A widely held, albeit often implicit, assumption of much theory and research in international relations, especially in the literature on the democratic peace, is that states rely on their own military organizations rather than hired guns to project force. The question addressed here is whether the attributes that have been identified as promoting trust among democracies remain strong when states rely on private forces instead of, or in addition to, public ones. If greater reliance on the market to satisfy security needs affects the transparency, constitutionalism and public consent of their foreign policy processes, the market for force could have implications for trust among democracies – and at the extreme, perhaps even for the democratic peace. Overall, we conclude that the use of private security by the US threatens to weaken key institutional mechanisms taken to enhance trust between it and other democracies.
Topic:
Democratization, Economics, Globalization, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States

1014. Democratization in Postcommunist Europe: Illiberal Regimes and the Leverage of International Actors

Author:
Milada Anna Vachudova
Publication Date:
10-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
The European Union (EU) may be presiding over the most successful democracy promotion program ever implemented by an international actor. Among postcommunist states with a credible EU membership perspective, we can see a significant – though far from complete – convergence toward liberal democracy. This is all the more interesting since ten years ago many of these states had illiberal or authoritarian regimes. I focus in this article on the sources of political change in previously illiberal regimes before and after "watershed elections," especially in the Western Balkans. I argue that over time the EU's leverage strengthened the hand of liberal forces against illiberal ones by way of four mechanisms: creating a focal point for cooperation, providing incentives for adapting, using conditionality, and serving as a credible commitment for reform. Consequently, most political parties have eventually changed their agenda to make it compatible with the state's bid for EU membership. I investigate the domestic conditions that have caused these mechanisms to function only weakly in Serbia and Bosnia.
Topic:
Democratization and Development
Political Geography:
Bosnia and Serbia

1015. The Carter Center News Fall 2006

Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Marcel Wetsh'okonda fights for human rights laws to be passed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country where 1,000 people die each day from disease, hunger, and vio-lence. It is no easy task.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

1016. The Carter Center News Spring 2006

Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Palestinian parliamentary election results surprised world leaders, international observers, and even Palestinians themselves when Hamas won a majority of the seats in January 2006.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, Human Rights, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Middle East

1017. Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood – New Modes of Governance?

Author:
Thomas Risse and Ursula Lehmkuhl
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
The governance problematique constitutes a central research focus in contemporary social sciences. Yet, the debate remains centered on an „ideal type“ of the modern nation-state – with full sovereignty and a legitimate monopoly over the use of force. From a global as well as a historical perspective, however, the Western modern nation-state is an exception rather than the rule. Outside the developed world, we find areas of “limited statehood”, from developing and transition countries to „failing“ and „failed states“ in today's conflict zones and – historically – in colonial societies. Our Research Center focuses on these areas of limited statehood which lack the capacity to implement and enforce central decisions or even lack the monopoly over the means of violence. We ask: How can effective and legitimate governance be sustained in areas of limited statehood? Which problems emerge under these conditions? We assume that “multi-level governance” is the rule in areas of limited statehood, linking the local with the national, regional, and global levels. We also assume that governance in areas of limited statehood involves a variety of public and private actors, such as states, international organizations, firms, and civil society. Governance entails negotiations, bargaining, and arguing among these actors rather than hierarchical „command and control“.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, International Cooperation, Political Economy, and Governance

1018. Struggling Over Civil Liberties: The Troubled Foundations of the West

Author:
Abraham Newman
Publication Date:
05-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute of European Studies
Abstract:
Shared fundamental liberties and democratic principles have long provided the core of what observers of international affairs termed the West. While national institutions and policies have at times varied, they rarely challenged the foundations of the transatlantic partnership. With the rise of information technology and the new security environment, however, local variations in fundamental rights have produced significant international implications. Examining recent transatlantic disputes over privacy and free speech, the paper argues that a new set of international issues have emerged dealing with transnational civil liberties. Once core unifying principles of the transatlantic relationship these basic freedoms have transformed into flashpoints for conflict. After identifying this new trend, the paper argues that the nature of these conflicts is framed by the timing of international interdependence relative to the maturity of national regulatory regimes.
Topic:
International Relations, Democratization, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
United States

1019. Development, Democracy, and Mass Killings

Author:
William Easterly
Publication Date:
07-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Using a newly assembled dataset spanning from 1820 to 1998, we study the relationship between the occurrence and cruelty of episodes of mass killing and the levels of development and democracy across countries and over time. We find that massacres are more likely at intermediate levels of income and less likely at very high levels of democracy, but we do not find evidence of a linear relationship between democracy and probability of mass killings. In the 20th century, discrete improvements in democracy are systematically associated with less cruel massacre episodes. Episodes at the highest levels of democracy and income involve relatively fewer victims.
Topic:
Civil Society, Crime, Democratization, and Development

1020. The Economics of Young Democracies: Policies and Performance

Author:
Nathan Converse and Ethan Kapstein
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Since the “third wave” of democratization began in 1974, nearly 100 states have adopted democratic forms of government, including, of course, most of the former Soviet bloc nations. Policy-makers in the west have expressed the hope that this democratic wave will extend even further, to the Middle East and onward to China. But the durability of this new democratic age remains an open question. By some accounts, at least half of the world's young democracies—often referred to in the academic literature as being “unconsolidated” or “fragile”—are still struggling to develop their political institutions, and several have reverted back to authoritarian rule. Among the countries in the early stages of democratic institution building are states vital to U.S. national security interests, including Afghanistan and Iraq.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, China, and Iraq