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Abstract
This article analyses the substance of the European Union's and United States' democracy assistance in Ethiopia in 2005–2010. Does this case reveal a transatlantic split, whereby the EU focuses on the external context and the US on the partial regimes of embedded, liberal democracy? Emphasizing the importance of institutions in analysing how interests and ideas affect democracy assistance, the article investigates how the substance may differ between the European Development Fund (EDF), European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The analysis finds a transatlantic split whereby the EU focused more on the external context and the US more on the partial regimes. This transatlantic split can be explained by the combination of ideas and institutions. More specifically, it reflects a difference between the EDF and USAID in their focus on ownership, alignment and harmonization in democracy assistance. The combination of interests and institutions played a less significant role in explaining the substance of democracy assistance, as USAID emphasized the partial regimes, despite political control from the State Department.
Notes
The author wishes to thank the editors of the Special Section, Tsveta Petrova, Rinda Bosker, Michael Barnett and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the paper.
1 The exact amount for ‘democracy assistance’ is difficult to measure. The EIDHR was €135 million in 2007. However, to this number, a share of the regional budget lines should be added. According to Youngs (Citation2008, 10–11), €1.4 billion of the EU's €10 billion annual aid budget is relevant for governance. For the US, USAID is the largest democracy promoter, with $1.2 billion in 2004 (USAID Citation2005, 1). In addition, the NED's budget was $120 million in 2011 (Wisniewski Citation2011).
2 Democratic governance includes: human rights, democratization, respect for the rule of law, access to information, transparent government, human security, management of migration flows, effective institutions, access to basic social services, sustainable management of natural and energy resources, the promotion of sustainable economic growth and social cohesion. For a discussion on this definition, see Del Biondo (Citation2011, 662).
3 Governing Justly and Democratically includes the rule of law and human rights, good governance, political competition and consensus-building and civil society. While there may be a difference with the EU definition, in the case of Ethiopia the projects under these sectors were comparable. For example, there were no EU projects in the field of migration or security, which are usually not regarded as democracy assistance by the US.
4 This institutional division ended with the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in 2010. The newly established DG Development and Cooperation (DEVCO) is now responsible for the implementation phase of all development assistance (regardless of the issue/region), while the programming phase is the joint responsibility of the EC and the EEAS (Del Biondo et al Citation2012).
5 For progress on the strategy, see: < http://www.usaid.gov/usaidforward>, accessed 15 October 2013.
6 In 2010 157 out of 169 countries.
7 Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training accounts combined, calculated on the basis of data retrieved from: < http://www.state.gov/t/pm/ppa/sat/index.htm>, accessed 7 July 2013.
8 Own calculations, on the basis of data retrieved from: < http://foreignassistance.gov>, accessed 7 July 2013.
9 Ethiopia and EC 2007 and < http://foreignassistance.gov>, accessed 7 July 2013.
10 Interview with staff members from EU delegation and CSF Technical Assistance Unit, 17 and 24 January 2011.
11 Interview with staff member from EU delegation, 24 January 2011.
12 Ibid; interview with diplomat at the Canadian embassy Ethiopia, 13 January 2011.
13 Interview with staff member from EU delegation, 24 January 2011.
14 See website of Women's Campaign International: < http://www.womenscampaigninternational.org/where_we_work#ethiopia>, accessed 23 July 2013.
15 Retrieved from < http://foreignassistance.gov>, accessed 23 July 2013.
16 Interview with staff member from the Solidarity Center, 30 May 2013.
17 Interview with staff member from the NED, 23 May 2013. See also National Endowment for Democracy, Annual reports 2005–2010: < http://www.ned.org/publications/annual-reports>, accessed 23 March 2013.
18 Interviews with staff members from CIPE, 21 February 2013 and 16 May 2013.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Karen Del Biondo
Karen Del Biondo is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin's focus group ‘The transformative power of Europe’ within the Department of Political and Social Sciences. She obtained her PhD at Ghent University and came to the Freie Universität Berlin following a post-doctoral placement at Stanford University. Email: [email protected]