Democracy promotion and ODA: a comparative analysis

Abstract

Scholars of democracy promotion foreign aid often claim it has substantially increased, yet they shy away from explaining by how much, nor investigate comparative trends in giving. This paper attempts to fill this void by addressing the following: (1) Has democracy promotion aid increased since the end of the Cold War? (2) Has the ‘assumed’ trend of increasing aid persevered through the difficulties encountered in democratizing Iraq? (3) Did aid increase from states that supported the invasion of Iraq compared to states that did not? The author's analysis purports that the answer is yes to the first two, yet it is harder to draw conclusions regarding Iraq. Another finding, contrary to claims in the scholarly literature, in terms of percentage and overall spending, the USA gives more democracy promotion aid than the EU. The author hopes this work stimulates research into the role of democracy promotion in the Arab Spring to consider historical trends in giving.

Keywords:

• democracy
• democracy promotion
• democratization
• Iraq War
• ODA

Acknowledgements

I would like to warmly thank everybody that has helped refine this research at various stages, especially John J. Barry (II), Patricia Matthews, and an anonymous reviewer. Any mistakes that remain are undoubtably mine.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jack J. Barry

Jack J. Barry is a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut, USA. He is currently working on his dissertation titled: ‘I Want My ICT: Information Communication Technology, Governance and Poverty in the Developing World’. He holds a Masters Degree from the University of Rhode Island in Political Science. He has published in various academic journals including most recently in Third World Quarterly.