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This is the first comprehensive, even-handed examination of U.S. policy in Latin America during the Reagan era. Drawing on interviews with U.S. officials and his own perspective as a former State Department lawyer, Thomas Carothers sheds new light on the much-discussed U.S. involvements in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Panama and turns up varied and often unexpected findings in less-studied countries such as Bolivia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, and Chile. This title i

Beset with persistent problems of self-interest, corruption, ideological incoherence, and narrow electoral majorities, political parties are the weakest link in many democratic transitions around the world. A large and ever-growing number of U.S., European, and multilateral assistance programs seek to help parties become effective pro-democratic actors. But given the depth of the problems, is success possible?C onfronting the Weakest Link is a pathbreaking study of international aid for political parties. Beginning with a penetrating analysis of party shortcomings in developing and p

"Thomas Carothers examines democracy aid programs relating to elections, political parties, governmental reform, rule of law, civil society, independent media, labor unions, decentralization, and other elements of what he describes as "the democracy template" that policy makers and aid officials apply around the world." "Steering a careful path between the inflated claims of aid advocates and the exaggerated criticisms of their opponents, Carothers takes a hard look at what such programs achieve and how they can be improved."--Jacket

Demand for practical knowledge and lessons about how the United States and other countries can more effectively promote democracy around the world has never been higher. This timely book by Thomas Carothers, one of the foremost authorities worldwide on democracy building, helps meet that need. Critical Mission draws together a wide-ranging set of Carothers's many seminal, widely cited essays, organized around four vital themes: the role of democracy promotion in U.S. foreign policy the core elements of democracy aid the state of democracy in the world the new U.S. push to promote democracy in the Middle East From puncturing myths about promoting civil society to sizing up the prospects for democracy in the Arab world, Carothers is consistently penetrating, incisive, and challenging to policymakers, democracy activists, and scholars alike. The book also includes the only up-to-date, comprehensive bibliography on democracy promotion

"Over the past decade, Carothers has established himself as the leading U.S. expert on democracy promotion. He is a powerful critic not only of the nuts-and-bolts of democracy assistance but also of U.S. grand strategy overall."--SAIS Review Promoting the rule of law has become a major part of Western efforts to spread democracy and market economics around the world. Yet, although programs to foster the rule of law abroad have mushroomed, well-grounded knowledge about what factors ensure success, and why, remains scarce. In Promoting the Rule of Law Abroad, leading practitioners and policy-oriented scholars draw on years of experience-in Russia, China, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa-to critically assess the rationale, methods, and goals of rule-of-law policies. These incisive, accessible essays offer vivid portrayals and penetrating analyses of the challenges that define this vital but surprisingly little-understood field. Contributors include Rachel Belton (Truman National Security Project), Lisa Bhansali (World Bank), Christina Biebesheimer (World Bank), Thomas Carothers (Carnegie Endowment), Wade Channell, Stephen Golub, and David Mednicoff (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Laure-HElEne Piron (Overseas Development Institute), Matthew Spence (Yale Law School), Matthew Stephenson (Harvard Law School), and Frank Upham (NYU School of Law)

In recent years, assistance aimed at promoting democracy abroad has become a major component of U.S. foreign aid and of the U.S. government's post-Cold War policy of seeking to enlarge the international community of democratic nations. Despite its rapid growth, however, democracy assistance remains poorly understood in practice, and its value is frequently questioned. This landmark study, an examination of U.S. democracy assistance efforts in Romania, is the first comprehensive analysis of the workings - and failings - of U.S. democracy assistance in one country. Based on the author's extensive field research, the study provides widely applicable answers to key questions about the value, strategies, methods, and future of such assistance

Abstract: Development aid and democracy support have become increasingly interconnected, but cooperation between them is only partial and its future uncertain. Traditional divisions between the two domains narrowed in the 1990s amidst increases in international aid budgets and optimism about dual transitions to democracy and markets. Development agencies increasingly recognize the importance of governance and political context in their work while democracy organizations address the challenge of helping democracy deliver the on citizens' socioeconomic demands. Yet both domains remain wary of integration. Many developmentalists are fearful of politicizing aid while democracy experts worry that democracy goals be subordinated to economic objectives.