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Trends in democracy assistance: what has Europe been doing?

21/04/2008 By Richard Youngs

Is Europe spending enough on democracy assistance, and spending it in the best ways? How pertinent to democracy is such aid, and how will the programs through which it is funneled need to improve if they are to meet rising challenges to democratization?

Recent years —which have seen the European Union and its member states spending significantly more on foreign political aid in general and democratization in particular— have made these questions more important than ever. Before addressing them in detail, it will be well to survey the field of European political aid both in itself and as it compares to efforts by other donor societies.

As a matter of deliberate policy, EU donor countries generally prefer to fund civil society initiatives as well as efforts to improve governance and respect for human rights. Although most European countries focus on sub-Saharan Africa, there are differences of emphasis, geographic and otherwise, from one donor country to another.
Moreover, the ways in which the money is spent have been evolving as well.

This Journal of Democracy article assesses the recent evolution of European democracy support initatives, pointing to the advances made but also the enduring weaknesses of EU political aid.


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Keywords

Democracy aid Democratisation Donors EU Foreign Policy European Union

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Bio author: Richard Youngs

Democracy promotion. EU foreign policy.